Pedro Sánchez will travel to Washington on May 12, just the day the electoral campaign for the municipal and regional elections begins on May 28, invited by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, with whom he will meet at the Casa White.
It will be Sánchez’s first visit to Biden, which will also coincide with the start of the campaign and will prevent the Prime Minister and leader of the PSOE from being at the start of it, although in exchange he will display a photo with the US president as endorsement. The announcement was made by the US government, through the White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, and has been confirmed by La Moncloa. Mariano Rajoy was the last Prime Minister to visit the White House, in 2017, under the presidency of Donald Trump.
“President Biden looks forward to welcoming President Pedro Sánchez to the White House on Friday, May 12 to further strengthen the historic ties between Spain and the United States. Both leaders will review their efforts as NATO allies and close partners to strengthen the bilateral relationship in the area of defence, transatlantic security and economic prosperity”, the press secretary stated in an appearance before the media.
“Both leaders will reaffirm their commitment to the transatlantic link and with firm support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” the Spanish government elaborated.
The invasion of Ukraine will be one of the central elements of the meeting between the two presidents. “They will discuss unwavering support for Ukraine and efforts to impose costs on the Kremlin as Russia continues its brutal war of aggression. Both leaders will coordinate on a variety of issues as Spain prepares to assume the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union in July , such as climate change and expanded cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean”, explained Jean-Pierre
As explained by La Moncloa, the invitation from the US president will allow both leaders to address the “genuine interest of both parties in strengthening their cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean”, and how to face global challenges together such as the climate emergency and defense democracy and a rules-based international order. In addition, the purpose of Sánchez is to present to Biden the general lines of the next presidency of the Council of the EU, which Spain will assume on July 1.
“Maybe We Won’t Go”
Sánchez and Biden met in June 2022 at La Moncloa, on the occasion of the NATO summit in Madrid. A meeting that served to sign that the US will increase from four to six the destroyers it has at the base in Rota (Cádiz). That meeting marked the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders. Until then there had only been meetings on the fringes of summits in Brussels, like the already famous one that led to a half-minute walk.
That same June 28, the president of the United States held a meeting with Felipe VI at the Royal Palace where a joke with the King was allowed: “They say we are like poor relatives. We show up when invited and we stay longer than we should So be careful, we may not leave.”
According to the criteria of The Trust Project