The first official photo of the participants in the NATO summit in Madrid, although with some significant losses due to a last minute negotiation. It was held tonight in the Alabarderos hall of the Royal Palace, where Felipe VI and Letizia are offering a welcome dinner to 14 presidents, 21 prime ministers and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. They have failed the secretary general of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg; Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdoğanand the leaders of Sweden and Finland, because they were negotiating the lifting of Ankara’s veto for these two new countries to join NATO.
The attendees have been arriving at the building from half past seven, where, firstly, they have passed through the Throne room to greet Felipe and Letizia and, later, they have gone to the Hall of Columns, for the aperitif, that has been standing. Later they have taken the photo in the Hall of Alabarderos and they will continue the evening in the gala dining room, to enjoy the main course and dessert.
At that moment, with everyone already seated around a long table, Felipe VI gave a speech in which he lamented that the war has “returned to Europe”. “Russia’s unjustifiable aggression against Ukraine is a flagrant violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state. No country is alien to this war. The same security of Spain and Western Europe also passes through Ukraine,” he said. The head of the Spanish State has asked for unity to “support the Ukrainian people” and has lamented this “tragic failure for the world” and the “great setback” it represents for the improvement of social and security conditions in the world.
The Monarch believes that the Alliance should extend its roots to other members with whom it shares “values, principles and goals”. Shortly before his words, the lifting of Turkey’s veto against Sweden and Finland became known.
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The King considers that this summit is “destined to go down in history” due to the context of a war that is having “widespread global consequences”. “Our hope – our desire – is for a safer and more peaceful future, for all of us who represent and for the world in general. A new era may be dawning for NATO, here in Madrid”, he told the leaders.
The menu
The leaders have come to taste the main course, hake with mernier sauce, tapioca and trout roe and, for dessert, coconut foam with mint granita and passion fruit. Before, as pica-pica they have had: spherical olives, brioche of red tuna with old mustard, ceviche of croaker with tiger milk, ‘airbag’ of cattle prodlobster with oil soup and pink grapefruit, shrimp omelette, sardine marinated with romescu sauce, glazed beef taco, smoked salmon gilda, garlic prawn croquette, kikos with guacamole, cod fritter and basil oil gazpacho. The chef from Madrid has cooked Paco Roncero.