Washington (EFE).- The US president, Joe Biden, and the head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, showed off their harmony in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House full of compliments, gestures of friendship and with only one “friction”: US tariffs on black olives.
These are the keys to the meeting, which lasted almost an hour. Both leaders made statements at the beginning and, later, Sánchez spoke to the press outside the Oval Office before a microphone that, as he himself said, had been placed a little low for his 1.9 meter height.
Exchange of compliments in a relaxed atmosphere
The two leaders were smiling and relaxed before the press. In the Oval Office, Sánchez defined Biden as a “reference” in the defense of democracy and considered that the world needs a president of the United States “committed to doing things well.”
Later, in statements to the media, Sánchez repeated those compliments and said that he had seen 80-year-old Biden “in shape”, and who has announced his intention to compete as a Democratic Party candidate in the 2024 presidential elections.
For his part, Biden began speaking in the Oval Office thanking Sánchez for the “hospitality” he showed him in Madrid during last year’s NATO summit and jokingly said he regretted only spending a week in the capital. Spanish, something that made Sánchez laugh a little.
The “friction” for black olives
Despite the harmony, Sánchez acknowledged that the dispute over black olives is an element of “friction” in the “excellent” relations with the United States, but he affirmed that he had found “receptiveness” on the part of Biden to resolve this issue.
In any case, the problem persists: Although the World Trade Organization ruled in 2021 against the United States for the tariffs it applied to Spanish exporters, which stood at 35%, the measures taken by this country -with new calculations and other concepts such as “antidumping” – have only reduced these taxes to 31% in practice.
Palomares: Will and Haste
In addition, the withdrawal of Spain from the contaminated lands of Palomares (Almería) by the US nuclear accident of 1966 is another unresolved issue in the bilateral relationship, although Sánchez wanted to emphasize at all times that there has been “advance” and “will” to settle the matter.
The head of the Spanish Executive did not hide his haste, because he pointed out that it has been arranged for the technical teams to meet “as soon as possible” to, “once and for all, be able to extract these contaminated lands and be able to get them out of Spain.”
unit in ukraine
The two leaders were united in their support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. It was one of the first issues that both alluded to in their initial statements in the Oval Office.
Biden expressed his thanks to Spain, which has hosted 175,000 Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war and has also imposed sanctions on Russia, as well as sending military hardware to Ukraine, including Leopard tanks.
“Together we are supporting Ukraine. I cannot thank you enough for the significant support you have given Ukraine, it means a lot. And I thank you for your leadership and your alliance in this challenge”, stressed the American leader.
Sánchez, for his part, reaffirmed Spain’s commitment to a “just and lasting peace” and attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Make no mistake, in this war there is an aggressor and a victim, and the aggressor is the President Putin,” he remarked.
Unknown about the number of migrants that Spain will welcome
On the other hand, the meeting did not clear up the question of the number of Latin American migrants that Spain will welcome under the recently announced agreement with the United States and Canada.
At the moment, Sánchez explained that the exact figure cannot be determined because it will depend on the labor needs in Spain.
However, he did admit that there is progress to set quotas because the Ministers of the Interior and Migrations, who are competent in this matter, are already working to specify that number.
Space exploration with the Artemis agreements
Finally, Sánchez took the opportunity to announce that Spain will join the Artemisa program, which was promoted by the United States with the long-term objective of establishing a permanent base on the Moon that facilitates missions with human beings on board being sent to Mars.
This agreement could serve to give a boost to the recently created Spanish Space Agency, based in Seville and whose mission is to coordinate all of Spain’s actions in space, as well as serving as an interlocutor with other similar institutions in the world, such as NASA of the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).