Calviño responds to Yolanda Díaz about Telefónica: "Spain is a serious country and we are going to activate the appropriate mechanisms to protect our strategic interest"

In the absence of Pedro Sánchez, who has stayed at home with Covid, it has been Nadia Calviño who has paraded on Saturday through the colorful carpet of New Delhi to receive the welcome and a smile of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been interested in the health of the Spanish president. Then, the first vice-president of the Government in office, as representative of Spain at the G20 summit, has participated in the first meetings focused on climate change.

"We have talked about strengthening international cooperation to fight climate change, with a unanimous call for the fulfillment of the climate and financial objectives of the Paris Agreement. The meeting has also been very focused on representing and enhancing the voice of the Global South, of developing countries, the most vulnerable," explained the Vice President.

"I see a unanimous commitment to multilateralism from all leaders to address global challenges, that is the message we have heard today. The G20 is proving to be the most important forum for effective coordination at the global level and addressing shared challenges," he continued.

It was in one of the breaks of the meetings of world leaders when Calviño has passed through the media center, located in one of the pavilions of the Bharat Mandapam, a mega convention complex that was renovated in July and has a main building shaped like a shell.

In front of the Spanish media that are in New Delhi, the vice president, in addition to addressing some notes on the meetings at the summit, has also responded to Yolanda Díaz, who this week asked Calviño to stop the entry into Telefónica of STC Group, the main telecommunications operator in Saudi Arabia, after this state company announced the acquisition of 9.9% of the Spanish company, thus becoming its majority shareholder.

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Spain is a serious country and since we came to government we have reinforced all the mechanisms to defend the interests of our country. That is what we are going to do, analyze the operation with the utmost rigor and activate the appropriate mechanisms to protect our general and strategic interest taking into account that Telefónica is a strategic company," said Calviño.

The vice president said she had "no chance" to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was also present at the Delhi summit. "We are going to protect the general and strategic interest of Spain," he said. Calviño added that he was in "constant contact" with José María Álvarez Pallete, the president of Telefónica, who has been in Saudi Arabia to meet with the STC leadership. "He keeps me promptly informed of everything," she said.

Before returning to the G20 meetings, Calviño also spoke about his candidacy for the Presidency of the European Investment Bank (EIB), whose vote will take place on September 15 and 16 in Santiago de Compostela. "We are working on it and Spain has presented a strong candidacy," he said. If elected, she would become the first woman to chair the EIB.