The Spanish and Portuguese Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence meet on Monday in Madrid to strengthen coordination in the face of the current international situation

• The meeting will focus on the Middle East, Ukraine, the Sahel and the Southern Neighbourhood

• This 2+2 ministerial format precedes the Spanish-Portuguese summit to be held on 23 October in Portugal

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The Minister for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, and the Minister for Defence, Margarita Robles, will meet next Monday, 21 October, at the Santa Cruz Palace with their Portuguese counterparts, Paulo Rangel and Nuno Melo, to analyse the international situation and deepen their coordination vis-à-vis the main security and defence challenges.

The agenda will see the ministers consider the risk of regional escalation in the Middle East, the UNIFIL situation in Lebanon and the need for a ceasefire to initiate a peace process. The war against Ukraine, military support, the peace plan and the prospect of Ukraine's accession to the European Union will be the other focus of the meeting.

Political developments in the Sahel, security and defence policy in Africa, maritime security and development cooperation will be the main points of interest for the African continent. The meeting will end with conversations regarding EU-NATO relations, the Southern Neighbourhood and the Spanish presidency of the Western Mediterranean Forum in 2024.

The holding of this ministerial meeting in 2+2 format precedes the Spanish-Portuguese summit to be held on 23 October in Faro (Portugal). This is the second time that the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and Defence have met in such format, honouring the annual commitment set out in the Trujillo Treaty on Friendship.

-NON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION-​