Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg welcomed his Spanish counterpart Arancha González Laya for an extensive bilateral work meeting in Vienna. The meeting focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and relations with the European neighbourhood.
For the two tourism destinations Austria and Spain it is an essential goal to enable safe travel again. This is why Austria and Spain support the European Commission’s efforts towards a digital green passport.
We believe that the digital Green Passport can be the way back to normalcy,
said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
Furthermore, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg stressed the need to include the European neighbourhood in the distribution of vaccines:
We need to be aware that there are states outside the EU that are looking to Europe for help.
The two Foreign Ministers also agreed on the importance of EU enlargement in the Balkans.
We must work together to advance the European perspective of the Western Balkans,
said Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg also stressed the importance of enlargement in the Balkans:
European integration is not complete unless the Western Balkan states join the EU.
Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya and Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg also agreed on the importance of a united EU stance in foreign policy and stressed the necessity to find a joint approach on equal footing in the Southern Partnership with states such as Morocco or Algeria, especially in matters of migration.
