The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares (center) chats with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell (left), before the welcome dinner of the 8th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) , on Sunday in Barcelona.Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores (Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores/EFE) The foreign ministers of...
Tag: Pedro Sánchez
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Calls for a Gaza cease-fire divide Europe’s Socialists
MÁLAGA, Spain — Europe’s Social Democrats on Saturday unanimously cheered Pedro Sánchez’s likely return to power in Spain after he agreed to an amnesty for Catalan separatists — but they found it harder to reach a common position on Israel’s war against Hamas. Socialist parties from across the Continent gathered at their annual meeting in southern...
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Germany’s Scholz backs Calviño for EIB top job
MÁLAGA, Spain — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave his backing to Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nadia Calviño to take over the running of the European Investment Bank next year. “I worked together with Nadia Calviño intensely when I was the finance minister of Germany and it’s my perspective that she would be a very good president...
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António Costa’s downfall spells trouble for socialist hopes of EU top job
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. António Costa is out as prime minister of Portugal — and that’s a problem for Europe’s socialists in their quest for an EU top job. The center-left had its hopes pinned on Costa getting a powerful role in Brussels as part of the great...
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Who needs the EU’s ‘irrelevant’ Gaza peace plan? The EU does, of course
When is a Middle East peace plan not a Middle East peace plan? When it’s really a plan to pacify bickering Europeans. Last week, the EU’s 27 national leaders called for an “international peace conference,” in addition to diplomatic and security initiatives to address in the longer Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the wake of the...
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EU leaders call for humanitarian ‘pauses’ in Israel-Hamas war
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. BRUSSELS — After five hours of closed-door discussions, EU leaders on Thursday agreed to call for “pauses for humanitarian needs” to allow aid into Gaza despite last-minute attempts by Spain to push for wording that sounded closer to a more durable cease-fire. The conversation was...
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EU capitals fume at ‘Queen’ von der Leyen
For many of her international allies, Ursula von der Leyen is Mrs Europe — a truly presidential figure who steered the bloc through the COVID-19 pandemic and kept it unified in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine. But the German politician’s glowing reputation abroad is increasingly belied by a malaise within the central institutions...
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Spain’s Successful Miura 1 Launch Reignites Europe’s Hopes For Space Exploration
MIURA 1, the first Spanish space rocket, during its presentation on the esplanade of the National … [+] Museum of Natural Sciences, on 12 November, 2021 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo By Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images) Europa Press via Getty Images You’ve probably never heard of the El Arenosillo Experimentation Centre, belonging to Spain’s...
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Doubts over Catalan as EU language create a headache for Spain’s Sánchez
¡No pasarán! EU countries are hitting the brakes on Spain’s request to get Basque, Catalan and Galician recognized as official languages of the EU. That’s a big problem for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who needs the support of Catalan separatists to remain in office, after an inconclusive election in July. Last month, Sánchez’s Socialist...
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European Countries Race To Set The AI Regulatory Pace
The flag of the European Union (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images) Getty Images As artificial intelligence continues its meteoric rise, European nations are moving swiftly to establish regulatory frameworks and ramp up investments in the technology. With generative AI like ChatGPT capturing the public’s imagination, regulators worry about potential risks even as they aim to...
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Brussels, My Love? EU Climate commissioner steps down
On this edition of Brussels, my love? we ask what problems EU climate plans could face following the departure of Commissioner Frans Timmerman and whether Spanish regional languages including Catalan, Galician and Euskera can become official EU languages. This week we were joined by Sara Matthieu, Belgian MEP from the Greens, Stefan Sipka, a senior...
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Can Basque, Catalan and Galician really become EU languages?
Having an additional official EU language can result in a hefty price tag for the union’s institutions. Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s acting Prime Minister, is trying to secure the backing of separatist parties to stay in power by having the EU recognise some regional languages but cost, possible lack of qualified personnel and wariness by other countries could...