After a brief holiday break in Doñana for Holy Week, Pedro Sánchez resumes his activity today with an intense international agenda. Thus, this same Monday, after receiving the former president of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, at the Moncloa, the head of the Executive undertakes a new express tour that in just three days will take him to visit three key actors in order to advance a process of de-escalation of the war conflict between Israel and Hamas, in which the Spanish president is closely involved. Sánchez will land this afternoon in Amman, the capital of Jordan; On Tuesday he plans to travel to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia; and will conclude its trip on Wednesday in Doha, capital of Qatar. The President of the Government will be back in Madrid in time for the start of the Basque election campaign next Friday, in which he will also be very active as leader of the PSOE.
On this new tour of the Middle East – after the one he carried out last November in Israel, Palestine and Egypt -, Sánchez plans to meet in Amman with the King of Jordan, Abdullah II; He will also meet in Jeddah with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salmán; and in Doha with the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. All of them, key actors in this turbulent region now plagued by the war between the Jewish State and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The trip takes place after Sánchez took a new step forward in his attempt to have the international community recognize the Palestinian State, as the only solution, in his opinion, to achieve lasting peace with Israel. Taking advantage of the European Council meeting on March 22 in Brussels, the Spanish president promoted a joint declaration with the prime ministers of Ireland, Malta and Slovenia, with the commitment to recognize the State of Palestine when it may imply a “positive contribution” to the end of the conflict.
Sánchez is determined to promote this solution of the two states, Israel and Palestine, a path for which he wants to add allies in Europe, despite the fact that when he visited the Rafah crossing last November, the southern access to the Gaza Strip from Egypt, together with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Alexander de Croo, announced that if the European Union did not take steps in this direction, Spain would make its own decisions, opening the door for unilateral action for the first time. Ultimately, the head of the Executive has promised that he will propose to Parliament the recognition of the Palestinian State, by Spain, in this legislature.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Sánchez has been demanding the immediate release of all those kidnapped by this terrorist organization, but also a ceasefire in Gaza, after the offensive deployed by the Israeli army, and compliance with the law. humanitarian and international to the administration of Beniamin Netanyahu, which has triggered diplomatic tension between Spain and the Jewish State. The Spanish president’s intention is to promote an international peace conference, which brings together all the actors in the region, with the recognition of the Palestinian State as the key to ensuring peace and security in this turbulent scenario.
Government sources have highlighted that permanent contact and direct dialogue with the main leaders of the region – as on this occasion with the authorities of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – is essential at a time that they consider “transcendental” to be able to advance in the resolution of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with the perspective of recognition of the Palestinian State. At the Moncloa they claim to be very aware of upcoming movements in this regard within the UN.
Sánchez will precisely begin his official agenda this Tuesday by visiting a UNRWA Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan. This is the country that hosts the largest number of Palestinian refugees, up to 2.4 million.
The fundamental focus of this new tour by Sánchez is thus placed on the push for the solution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, with the global recognition of both states, and the organization of an international peace conference.
Sánchez’s tour will also address bilateral issues with these three countries, and will also have an economic nature during stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. These two countries have two of the most important sovereign funds in the world, and with important investment programs underway, in which Sánchez wants to promote the options of Spanish companies. The Saudi telephone company, STC, has bought a significant stake in Telefónica, to which the Government has announced that it will increase its position to 10% of a Spanish company that it considers strategic. This issue, however, is not among Sánchez’s priorities in his meetings with the Saudi authorities on this visit, according to government sources.
