Meeting of Lehendakari Urkullu with the French and Portuguese ambassadors on the TAV interconnections

The Lehendakari, Iñigo Urkullu, and the Secretary General for Foreign Action of the Basque Government, Marian Elorza, are already at the French Embassy in Madrid for a meeting with the French Ambassador, Jean-Michel Casa.

Inigo Urkullutraveled to Madrid to hold two meetings with the ambassadors of France and Portugal to address the interconnections of the Atlantic arc.

Iñigo Urkullu attends these two meetings accompanied by the Secretary General for Foreign Action, Marianne Elorza, as reported by Lehendakaritza. The first meeting is scheduled for 2:00. with the French ambassador Jean-Michel houseand the second appointment is at 5:00 PM with the Ambassador of Portugal, João Mira-Gomes. In both cases, the meetings take place in the embassies of these states.

The Basque government already announced after the General Assembly of the Euroregionintegrated by Euskadi, Navarre and New Aquitaineheld last 20th of Marchwho planned to address the French Ambassador to Spain, as well as the European Commissioner for Transport, as part of efforts to promote the interconnections of the Atlantic axis.

Formerly, the past 13 MarchUrkullu had met in Vitoria-Gasteiz with the Presidents of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria, in which they promised to promote a ‘lobby’ or pressure group to defend the interests of these areas for the European Union in matters such as rail connections and energy. To that end, they announced they would ask the EU to recognize them as Atlantic macro region.

The Lehendakari will transfer the request to the French government to extend the deadlines for the arrival of high-speed train to Daxfollowing the announcement by the French government of postpone from 2030 to 2042.

The lehendakari has publicly displayed his on several occasions dissatisfaction with France’s position warned that a case like this “cannot be exposed to so many changes and so much improvisation”, for which he accused the French and Spanish states of “failing to fulfill their obligations”, which he says determines the policy of the Atlantic communities on a very negative way.

In addition to the French and Portuguese ambassadors, Urkullu has already met with the Prime Minister of Wales, Mark Drakefordin an appointment in which they endorsed the commitment of the Basque Country and Wales to the Atlantic Macroregion project.

Another meeting with the Lehendakari lingers, this time with the European Union Commissioner for Transport, adina valianto transfer the same request.