Washington (EFE).- The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken, and his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, expressed this Wednesday their political will to resolve the matter of the contaminated lands of Palomares (Almería, Spain) due to the accident nuclear event occurred in 1966, a subject that is under technical discussions.
The Spanish government has asked Washington to comply with the commitment made in 2015 to bring the sand contaminated with plutonium 57 years ago to a desert in Nevada (USA).
“First of all, we recognize the importance of this issue,” Blinken said at a press conference after a meeting with Albares at the State Department headquarters in Washington.
The leader of US diplomacy anticipated that “negotiations for the cleanup efforts will resume soon” and expressed that Washington is “very eager to work” with Madrid on this matter.
For his part, Albares confirmed that there is “will on both sides” to resolve the issue, although he admitted that it is a “complex matter from a technical point of view” and that several aspects remain “to be resolved.”
“There are technical aspects that must be discussed at a technical level, not a political one. That is where we will establish the deadlines to follow. The important thing is that there is a will for dialogue”, settled the Spanish minister.
The Palomares nuclear accident occurred on January 17, 1966, when two United States Air Force aircraft collided, causing the detachment and fall of four thermonuclear bombs.
In total, it is about 50,000 cubic meters of soil contaminated with half a kilo of plutonium and that makes the radioactive stigma last in Cuevas de Almanzora, the Almería municipality to which Palomares and Villaricos belongs, more than half a century later.
The affected lands are still divided into 44 parcels that the State is now trying to expropriate.
In 2015, a political agreement was reached without any legal link whereby Spain would be in charge of the cleanup and the United States would keep the radioactive land. But that memorandum was never developed and the contamination persists in Palomares.
This is one of the issues that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, intends to address in the meeting that he will hold on Friday at the White House with the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
Spain promises in the US its “total” support for Ukraine for as long as it takes
José Manuel Albares, before Blinken, promised Spain’s “total” support for Ukraine for as long as it takes.
In a joint press conference after meeting in Washington, both foreign officials were questioned about the alleged lukewarmness of some southern European countries when it came to supporting the Kiev government.
“I wanted to correct that misperception of our support for Ukraine, which is total from day one and will continue as long as necessary,” replied the Spanish minister.
Albares recalled that Spain condemned “from the first minute” the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and that since then it has supported the ten packages of European Union sanctions against Russia.
It has also backed the International Criminal Court’s investigations into war crimes of which Russian troops are accused and has sent its forensic staff to collect evidence on the ground, it said.
In addition, Ukraine has been the beneficiary of the largest humanitarian aid package that Spain has ever sent to a single country, and has received weapons from the Spanish Army such as Leopard tanks and anti-aircraft batteries.
Albares also highlighted the fact that Spain has welcomed 170,000 Ukrainian refugees with a “very particular” immigration status, and stated that the Government of Madrid is willing to continue hosting more people if “the humanitarian catastrophe continues.”
Likewise, the minister stressed that the firm aid to Ukraine does not imply that Spain forgets “the needs” of its partners in Latin America and Africa, to whom it also promised to continue helping.
For his part, Blinken said that he does not share “the premise” that Madrid has not sufficiently supported Kiev, since in his opinion “Spain has been unwavering in supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“He has made it very clear not only through what he says, but also through what he does,” said the head of US diplomacy.
The Secretary of State praised Spain because its “humanitarian support has been remarkable”, in addition to thanking its “generosity” for supporting the Ukrainian people with the reception of refugees.
“So we have seen from day one extraordinary solidarity and a strong sense of acting together to support and defend Ukraine,” he said.
Blinken also accused Russia of using the food crisis caused by the war as a weapon, which especially affects the countries of the so-called “global south”, but stressed that Spain, the United States and other nations are working to stop the rise in food prices. food.
“We are deeply grateful for Spain’s commitment and leadership in Ukraine, but we are also together and very focused on a wide range of issues that concern people around the world,” said the Secretary of State.