Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will arrive in Spain on November 18 for meetings with deputies. His arrival at the Spanish parliament is scheduled for 9:30 AM local time.
Preparations for COP30 in Brazil are under threat due to bloody police raids in Rio de Janeiro and rising tensions around Venezuela. President Lula da Silva is forced to respond to internal instability, which overshadows his plans to demonstrate the country's efforts in combating climate change.
The "Junts" party, an ally of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, has decided to break ties with the ruling party over unfulfilled promises regarding Catalonia's powers, language policy, and amnesty. "Junts" leader Carles Puigdemont announced a party member vote on the final decision.
President Zelenskyy held a conversation with Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez, discussing steps to strengthen Ukraine's defense and energy aid. The parties coordinated diplomatic work and agreed to meet for further support of Ukraine.
The Madrid City Council, controlled by conservatives, recently approved a measure obliging medical centers to provide women seeking abortions with information about so-called “post-abortion trauma. ” In response, the government of socialist Pedro Sánchez announced its intention to include abortion rights in the constitution.
Donald Trump has proposed a 20-point peace plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, which has been approved by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and a number of Arab countries. Hamas is studying the proposal, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad called it a "recipe for an explosion in the region."
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, discussing the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian front and the peace process. Sánchez confirmed political support for Ukraine, particularly on its path to EU membership, and emphasized the importance of unity between Europe and the US for achieving peace.
The plane carrying the head of the Spanish government to Paris for the "Coalition of the Willing" meeting broke down. Pedro Sanchez returned to Madrid and promises to join the summit on security guarantees for Ukraine via video link.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares denied that the country's failure to meet NATO targets was the reason for its absence from the Ukraine talks. Albares emphasized Spain's commitment as an ally and its provision of military aid to Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the diplomatic situation with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. They agreed on the need to consider Europe's voice in future peace negotiations and Ukraine's path to European integration.
Spain has postponed the purchase of American F-35 fighters, focusing on European options. The country plans to modernize the Eurofighter and invest in the future FCAS system.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal discussed with the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, strengthening defense cooperation. Ukraine proposed jointly producing drones and resolving the issue with Russian drones.
Spain does not foresee negative consequences for not meeting the NATO spending target of 5% of GDP. The country's government assures that it will fulfill all obligations regarding military capabilities without reaching this level.
At the NATO summit in The Hague, an increase in defense spending to 5% of GDP is being discussed, causing controversy among member states. Ukraine remains on the periphery, and its Euro-Atlantic integration is effectively frozen due to the position of Trump and Germany.
More than 50 Colombian soldiers were abducted by civilians in the mountains, a common practice in conflict regions. The Minister of Defense condemned the actions, attributing them to groups, while the President called for the release of the captives.
On June 24-25, a NATO summit will be held in The Hague, where the main issues will be a new defense budget of 5% of GDP and the war in Ukraine. Spain has expressed reluctance to increase spending, and a meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council is not planned.
Spain has agreed with NATO to be exempt from the requirement to spend 5% of GDP on defense, which Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called "disproportionate and unnecessary. " The country claims it can fulfill its obligations by spending 2.1% of GDP and had the lowest share of defense spending in the Alliance last year - 1.28% of GDP.
European NATO allies are concerned about the rapid withdrawal of US troops from Europe amid escalating conflict in the Middle East. After the summit, allies will pledge to spend 5% of GDP on defense, then the US will present a military review.
Spain is blocking a new NATO agreement to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, as demanded by Donald Trump. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez considers the commitment "unreasonable and counterproductive," which has angered other members of the Alliance.
Spanish TV channel RTVE demands to check the tele-voting, conduct an audit and review the Eurovision jury system. They are concerned about the impact of the war on the results of the competition.
Pedro Sánchez insists on uniform rules for all participating countries, as was done with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. He calls for an end to double standards in culture.
The Spanish government is advancing a plan to reduce the working week from 40 to 37. 5 hours. On May 6, the Cabinet of Ministers will discuss the project before sending it to Parliament.
Experts believe that the Spanish power grid could not cope with the large amount of solar energy, which led to the shutdown of 15 GW. The need for more stable energy sources is being considered.
China plans to lift sanctions on five members of the European Parliament who have criticised human rights abuses. This could open the way for trade talks between the two sides.
The Prime Minister of Spain has stated that they are investigating the causes of the power outages in Spain and Portugal. The authorities have created a commission that will examine the role of private energy companies.
The President of Ukraine emphasized the need to strengthen cooperation between the countries of the Three Seas Initiative. Zelenskyy proposed to join efforts in energy, transport and backup power.
In Spain, 99. 16% of the power supply has been restored. The cause of the massive outage may have been the disappearance of 15 gigawatts of electricity from the grid, which is being investigated.
Western Europe is gradually recovering from a massive power outage. In Spain, more than 35% of capacity has been restored, and in Portugal, 2.5 million consumers have been reconnected to electricity.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered Spain assistance in connection with the large-scale power outage. Ukrainian specialists are ready to join the restoration of the Spanish energy system.
A state of emergency has been declared in Spain due to a nationwide power outage. An emergency government meeting is addressing the situation, with millions of people without electricity.
