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For many months there has been a secret job in

La Moncloa

that worries and occupies: the Spanish presidency of the EU from June.

A job that Pedro Sánchez already puts in the foreground and prioritizes.

The President of the Government will visit 15 European countries before June with the purpose of "paving" the way, knowing their positions on issues that will have to be negotiated during our mandate and trying to overcome the bloc policy.

The first stop has been in

Austria

,

Croatia

and

Slovenia

, with open strategic autonomy as a "crucial priority" and migration policy as a delicate and contentious issue.

Sánchez already combines an internal and external look.

He warms up with intense field work prior to assuming the presidency of the EU, which must be reconciled with serious issues such as the reform of the law of only yes is yes

or

the campaign for municipal and regional elections, as

a checkpoint

prior to the general ones, with an uncertain electoral scenario and where the published demoscopy tips, to this day, the balance in favor of the PP.

In La Moncloa they want to give "visibility" to the role of the Spanish presidency because, they understand, there are many "expectations" and Brussels "is watching us."

You want to separate one thing from the other, to have different spheres.

In a complicated purpose, that the internal does not contaminate the external.

The next tour, for example, will occur in March and will include

Ireland

,

Denmark

, and

Finland

.

Going to

Hungary

is ruled out and work is underway to go to

Italy

, two countries that have governments that are part of the same political family as Vox.

It is also a way of marking an institutional and international profile against the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.

The President of the Government already anticipates what will be an intense international agenda, which intends to bring events to many of the large Spanish cities, and which will include a meeting of the

European Political Community

in

Granada

or a

Europe-Latin America meeting

.

Focus, exposure and exhibition of institutional relations as an asset to counteract the wear and tear that the figure of him or the Government can present.

Sánchez, after his meeting with Austrian Chancellor

Karl Nehammer

, has described one of the tasks in which he will put the most effort: the review of the energy market, a battle that has been going on for months in Europe.

His approach is to reach agreements to achieve affordable energy prices for homes and businesses;

reduce carbon emissions;

and increase the aforementioned strategic autonomy.

ecological transition

The President of the Government considers that Europe must extract "the lessons learned" from the pandemic and the war in Ukraine "to reindustrialise Europe, taking advantage of the opportunities of the ecological transition and transformation".

The objective pursued by Sánchez is to take that step, if not definitive, almost, to reduce foreign dependence on matters such as food, new technologies, health, strategic value chains or critical raw materials.

On the agenda of these meetings there are issues that are already discussed with the heads of Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, such as European governance or the challenges of competitiveness, which includes matters relating to State aid.

And also migration.

Before the

European Parliament

is dissolved in May 2024, the commitment that was established is to close a

Migration and Asylum Pact

, a thorny issue due to the disparate positions between countries, with extreme positions in some cases.

For example, Austria has defended a harsh migration policy, even betting on the construction of fences between its country and

Bulgaria

and

Romania

.

Sánchez wants to build bridges in complex issues like this.

He wants his presidency to be "ambitious" and "proactive", as he has defined in his institutional statement, without questions, together with the Austrian chancellor.

In this matter, Foreign Minister Nehammer has made explicit the need to "protect our borders", expressing that these are "difficult times" due to the war in Ukraine, inflation and irregular immigration.

Both leaders have exchanged positions without finding, at least for the moment, a common point, and they have decided to continue working on the matter.

"Spain is the external border of Europe and suffers from irregular entries. It needs community support," said the Austrian chancellor, extending the need for this support to Bulgaria and Romania.

Migration policy has also been one of the priority issues in the meeting between Sánchez and the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovi.

In a closer position between the two, Sánchez has expressed the need to establish a "balance" between "responsibility and solidarity" and not establish a division in Europe between first and second host countries.

Croatia, the second stop on this first mini tour, has been the "outstanding student of the Balkans" for the Government, since it is a country that since January 1 has been part of the Schengen area and the

euro

.

A Mediterranean country with which Spain has closer immigration positions, because it is also the southern border.

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