Pedro Sánchez to meet Joe Biden for first time at NATO summit
Friday, June 11, 2021 @ 11:19 AM
SPAIN'S president Pedro Sánchez will finally meet his US counterpart in person on Monday (June 14) when they both travel to Brussels, which will be the first time a top representative has sat and talked with a leader of the North American country face to face in exactly three years.
Last time was in June 2018, when King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attended the White House, when Donald Trump was in power, and a Spanish and US president have not met in person since September 26, 2017 when the former country's then leader, Mariano Rajoy, travelled to Washington DC.
United States leaders have not been to Spain for five years – Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle were the most recent, in July 2016, meeting HRHs Felipe and Letizia, president Rajoy and the then leaders of the key opposition parties, Pedro Sánchez (PSOE, or socialists), Albert Rivera (centre-right Ciudadanos) and Pablo Iglesias (left-wing Podemos).
The Obamas also had two official State visits at the White House from Spain – HRHs Felipe and Letizia in September 2015, their Royal trip to the USA as King and Queen rather than as Prince and Princess of Asturias, and Mariano Rajoy in January 2014.
As yet, due to the pandemic, Pedro Sánchez (pictured right) has not been able to meet with the USA's 46th president Joe Biden (pictured left, with Kamala Harris) in the nearly eight months since the latter won the elections and the five months since he took up office, but the beginning of next week will give them a chance to briefly get to know each other and chat.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com