Spain on Saturday assumed the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union from Sweden.

On the first day of Spain’s presidency, Prime Minister Pedro Sanches is travelling to Kyiv for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This will be Sanches’s third visit to Ukraine since Russia launched a war of aggression against that country.

This is the fifth time that Spain is presiding over the Council of the EU.

“Europe, closer”; is the motto with which the Spanish Presidency wants to send a message of unity and enthusiasm towards a better future.

The Spanish presidency has established four priorities for its term: Reindustrialise the EU and ensure its open strategic autonomy; Advance in the green transition and the environmental adaptation; Promoting greater social and economic justice; and, Strengthening European unity.

With the aim of reindustrializing the EU and guaranteeing Open Strategic Autonomy, the Spanish Presidency will work to attract new companies and jobs to European territory, in a context of geopolitical, technological and environmental changes that are an opportunity to reduce excessive dependence on third countries in areas such as energy, health, digital technologies and food. In addition, a common strategy will be designed to guarantee the economic security and global leadership of the EU by 2030.

“Europe is beginning to emerge in the eyes of the world as a safe, friendly space, which has all the necessary ingredients to lead the economy of the future”, Sanchez said recently when presenting the agenda for the Spanish fifth presidency of the EU.