US President Joe Biden on Friday expressed his gratitude to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez for his support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, and for the strengthening of Madrid's military ties with Washington.
"I can't thank you enough for your significant support for Ukraine," the US leader told his guest in the Oval Office ahead of bilateral talks that also touched on trade and immigration.
He also thanked Sanchez for allowing the United States to bolster its military presence in his country, with the US Navy upping the number of its destroyers at the Rota naval base from four to six.
"We are both facing the challenges of migration in the Western hemisphere," Biden added, as the US government implemented significant changes to the rules for migrants trying to enter on the southern border with Mexico.
The United States, Spain and Canada have pledged to cooperate on this politically hot topic for the US president.
Biden himself recently said he feared a chaotic situation at the US-Mexico border, which more than 10,000 visa-free migrants have crossed every day recently ahead of the lifting of a pandemic-era restriction that had allowed officials to summarily expel border crossers.
"Your commitment to democracy is an example for everyone," said the Spanish leader, adding that the United States and Spain were "allies and friends."
Sanchez noted that Spain was preparing to take over the presidency of the European Union, with the aim, among other things, of bolstering cooperation with Latin America.
WORLD BRIEFING: May 3, 2024
You can also highlight the text and press Ctrl + Enter
Comments ( 1)
Pedro Sanchez is not the kind of politician many Spaniards would like to be in charge of our country. He depends on left-wing parties that are against any kind of help to Ukraine, some of them fighting for the independence of parts of Spain, and with that kind of partners is impossible to make a proper policy, for Spain, for the EU and for Ukraine. Add to that that Spain has very little military equipment to send to Ukraine, and the final result is that the only significant aid is that offered to the Ukranian refugees, also quite poor because part of it depends on the 17 regional governments, with 17 different rules. The OK for the deployment of two new USS Navy ships at Rota is the only really important agreement.