H.E. Mr. Ion de la Riva:

First of all, another disclaimer. I had only seven minutes earlier, so I could not mention everything. Implied in our global southern strategy, of course Africa is prominent, especially to a country like Spain. We have a special sensitivity to what goes on in northern Africa and in the Middle East. I take advantage of the fact that I am here to say that Ireland actually thanked us for the rescue operation in Sudan. This shows that Spain takes very seriously what happens, and not just in Horn of Africa or in north Africa. When I mention that, not robbing Peter to pay Paul, although we have this problem now on the eastern borders with the criminal aggression in Ukraine, we should not forget that jihadism may win the day in places like Mali. These are our southern borders and therefore we in Europe should pay careful attention to what goes on in the Sahara, whether it is in Mali or Libya.

Spain has its Plan Africa. In this the northern African regions and countries are prominent but we do not forget that further south there is jihadism going on. The Horn of Africa is also a very volatile region, as is Sudan. We talk a lot about the war in Ukraine and we pay less attention to what went on and still goes on in Syria, Yemen and Sudan. South of the northern African borders, the big threat is jihadism. The reason I did not mention this previously is because my time was limited and I wanted to focus on the summits we are organising.

Regarding the communications strategy, I am very happy the Deputy asked that question. When the Taoiseach received our Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, here, this question was prominent in their discussions. The rise of populism in Europe, whether from the extreme left or the extreme right, is a worrying factor. It not only affects countries like Poland, Hungary and Italy. Spain is now also part of the problem. The communications strategy has a lot to do with what I mentioned as a priority, which is keeping the citizens in mind. Populism is fed by things like inflation when people find it difficult to pay their mortgages, for example, and many other things which affect citizens' daily lives. We think that Europe has to reach its citizens. This is why the slogan of this Presidency is "Europa, más cerca". We need to get citizens' attention and ensure they understand it is in their interest to support European policies.

I would add that we all have to make sacrifices for our unity and strength. Our unity rests on two pillars: the Single Common Market and the freedom of people to travel across borders. We have to keep borders secure because immigration is being used as a fuel of populism. We have to make sure people understand that demographics imply we need workers in Europe but we have to control migration. If we do not control illegal trafficking of human beings and smuggling and if we do not put an end to abominable episodes, be it in Spain or Morocco or Greece and the Greek islands or Italy or Turkey, citizens will feel things are out of control. They may be tempted to discard European structures and European summits if they do not feel they are close enough to what they worry about. This is what led the Spanish Presidency to include this priority and to opt for the slogan of "Europa, más cerca".

We feel that these are politically very volatile times. Populism should be stopped with arguments explaining what demographics mean and what migration can do for us. We also need to keep inflation at bay and solve our economic worries. The communications strategy is not the only priority but it is very much one of our priorities. It is not only the priority, it is the slogan of the Spanish Presidency. We are more than aware of the risks. We are not talking just about economic security or defence security. There is also an internal risk of estranging populations in Europe from the goals and values of the Union.

Migration is the Achilles heel of Europe. We feel it is a very important issue and that this fuels populism. It is being used as an argument by extremist parties to try to put the blame on migrants and not on human traffickers and smugglers. Unless we get an overall agreement on migration and asylum, we will just be putting some patches on anecdotal questions and not have the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that we need the workforce and we have to control our borders. We are at the forefront of trying to make our borders safer for the rest of Europe. Ireland does not have this problem but we in the south feel the responsibility and that it is our task to secure our common borders. We must also have solidarity to compensate for this, and states have to accept the overall agreement.

We thank the Swedish Presidency for having done a great job in tackling this problem but there is a lot more to be solved. We have to come to an agreement on rescue operations. We are all witnessing these terrible tragedies on the seas. We have to counteract human traffickers and their networks.

Regarding reindustrialisation and strategic autonomy, I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to say that previous presidencies had to confront the Covid pandemic. What did we learn from the pandemic? We learned that we needed safe deliveries, mainly in the pharmaceutical industry, in masks and in medical equipment and that we had forgotten about the need to keep strategic commodities and products available for the European population. We learned from those lessons of the pandemic. The Deputy quoted the United States, which I think is doing a great job in reindustrialising itself and confronting the rivalry and partnership with China. At the end of the day, we have to be aware that this is a new international architecture. After Covid, there was a move forward to be more aware of our need for strategic commodities and products and, therefore, to reindustrialise and to diversify.

We see Latin America not just in terms of commodities, products and resources we need but also that we need political alliances with these countries. It cannot be expected that our southern borders, either in Africa or Latin America - the global south as people refer to them now - will be more forthcoming unless we treat them not just in terms of security risks or security advantages but also in an overall political alliance.

I think I have answered the Deputy's questions. I beg your pardon if I have not done so properly. I am open to coming back in but I do not want to take the floor for too long.