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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, Jose Manuel Alparís, and his British counterpart, Liz Truss, hope that an agreement Currently negotiated by the European Union with the United Kingdom Over Gibraltar was completed as soon as possible, if possible before the end of the year.
This came in the meeting held on the sidelines of the NATO Ministerial Summit in Riga (Latvia), where the aforementioned agreement was reached, which It will be based on the prior agreement between London and Madrid on December 31, was one of the topics discussed, according to diplomatic sources.
As Alparis himself noted on his Twitter, “both agreed to continue working to reach an agreement as soon as possible on Gibraltar”. The meeting took place exactly one day before the third round of negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom is to be held in Brussels, which begins on Thursday.
Another major theme of the meeting between Alparis and Truss was mobility. As the minister pointed out, they talked about “how Mobility Enhancement Between Spain and the UK, one of the biggest challenges in the post-Brexit relationship.”
Diplomatic sources make it clear that the goal is to ensure the mobility of Spaniards in the United Kingdom, whether residents, tourists or others, and vice versa, and that their lives are not affected by the departure of this country from the European Union.
The meeting has also worked to address immigration issues, at a time when the UK is locked in a fierce battle with the European Union, but in particular with France, due to an increase in the number of immigrants arriving through the English Channel. According to the sources, Truss was interested in the experience of Spain in this matter.
Other dual counters
In addition to the British minister, Paris has used his presence at the NATO summit since Tuesday to hold other bilateral meetings with his counterparts.
Thus, he met his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, with whom he tackled “issues such as the dual citizenship treaty, cross-border cooperation or how to deepen investments between our two countries,” he explained on Twitter. .
He also met with Polish Minister Zbigniew Rau with whom he discussed “the migration crisis at the Polish-Belarus border”, as well as with Canadian Minister Melanie Jolie.
On Tuesday it was the turn of his Latvian counterpart, Edgar Rinkevix, and Iceland’s foreign minister, Thordis Colburn. For this, he thanked his “offer of assistance to the island of La Palma”.
“The only thing Iceland and Spain have in common are the recent volcanic eruptions, and Iceland has provided technical assistance” regarding the volcanic eruption on the Canary Island, the Icelandic minister said on Twitter.
“We want to intensify relations with Iceland, for which we have established an office in Reykjavik attached to the Spanish embassy in Norway,” said Alparis, who also discussed the Arctic region with his counterpart.
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