H.E. Mr Alfonso Dastis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Spain to Hungary, was the special guest of the next Ludovika Ambassadors’ Forum in line.
Dr Ákos Péter Mernyei, International Director of the Ludovika University of Public Service, opened the event. In his welcome speech, he highlighted that LUPS is a special university that not only teaches but also trains its students for the tasks and challenges they will face throughout their careers serving the nation. In this changing world, issues are more and more demanding. In these times, experienced diplomats, like His Excellency, are true treasures to the community. LUPS is proud to provide an agora for discussions involving high-standard diplomats to deepen our relations and exchange ideas, which is indispensable to compete against the trials of the global world.
H.E. Mr. Alfonso Dastis subjected several topics in his keynote speech entitled "Europa: A Spanish Ambition". He hinted at some information about the history of Spain, speaking about Spain's transition after the death of Francisco Franco. Ambassador Dastis featured that the Spanish transition became sort of novel for countries transitioning from dictatorship to democracy in those times. Spain joined the European Union in 1986 and NATO in 1982. Spain's accession to the European Union enabled Spain to grow in each field of life and economy. The Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset once said, ''Spain is the problem, and Europe is the solution''. His Excellency stated that Europe did bring Spain back to prosperity and democracy. The capital income, tourism and the average life expectancy have all increased. Spain is one of the largest producers of vehicles in the world, and Spanish companies have become international. His Excellency emphasised the importance of the position of women in society, adding that women today over graduate men and make up almost 50 per cent of the working population. Spain is also striving to achieve gender balance in politics; the total gender balance is one of their priorities. Besides these, the green transition and promoting social and economic justice are also of great importance for Spain. After outlining Spain’s most important aspects, His Excellency explained that Spain is fulfilling its fifth presidency of the Council of the EU. Hungary and Belgium will hold the presidency in 2024, and the successive presidencies of these three countries form a "trio". This "trio" has adopted a common programme based on common priorities, such as developing the EU in economic ways, protecting citizens' rights and freedom, and promoting the EU's interests and values.
In accordance with the custom, a roundtable discussion allowed the participants to deepen the analysis of the subjects mentioned in the keynote speech. The moderator of the event was Dr Mónika Szente-Varga, an associate professor of LUPS. She is a historian and a Latin America specialist. The panellist, nominated by the Embassy, was Dr András Bíró-Nagy, director of Policy Solutions, senior research fellow at the Centre for Social Science and board member of the Hungarian Political Science Association. The other panellist nominated by LUPS was Mátyás Gergi-Horgos, a final-year PhD student at LUPS and publishing manager of the European Conservative. The experts touched on several matters. For a start, Dr Bíró-Nagy analysed the Trio’s priorities, focusing on the improvement of social dimensions. As a Latin America specialist, Dr Szente-Varga raised the question of what the EU and Spain could offer to this region. Ambassador Dastis highlighted the importance of the EU-CELAC summit, which took place this summer. EU leaders and leaders from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States met in Brussels for the third EU-CELAC summit. At the summit, EU and CELAC leaders committed to renewing their long-standing partnership, which is founded on shared values and interests and strong economic, social and cultural ties. The panellists were not afraid of touching sensitive topics such as the Catalan and Basque autonomy, either.
As usual, the event ended with the Q&A section, when LUPS students asked His Excellency about the Spanish stance on the green transition and the nuclear power plants in Spain or the possible ways of strengthening the relationship between our countries.