Approximately half of the Spaniards living in Ukraine, located mainly in the capital, Kiev, have left the country. Only about 200 are still there. According to data from the Spanish embassy in Ukraine there are between 400 and 500 residents. Of these, 40% have already left or are in the process of doing so. On Saturday, the Foreign Ministry recommended that Spaniards with a Ukrainian address “seriously consider the possibility of leaving temporarily” due to the threat posed by the deployment of Russian forces on the border and the “volatile security situation” and also advised against traveling there. Since then, just under 100 Spaniards have communicated their intention to leave, in addition to those who have already done so in recent days.
Foreign Affairs has the entire Spanish community monitored and is spoken to “daily” with them. Some have already warned that they will not leave the country under any circumstances. The embassy, which employs 36 people, is “fully operational” with airlines operating normally and roads and railways remaining safe. “Leaving Ukraine does not represent a complication,” said Minister José Manuel Albares at a press conference with his counterpart in the Netherlands, Wopke Hoekstra. In any case, as the Ministry made public on Friday, there is an evacuation plan “so that it can be put into operation when necessary.” But, “now the conditions for it do not exist”.
It is being evaluated, explained Albares, if there are essential staff in case “it was necessary to reduce it”. Because everything is susceptible to change “to a greater or lesser severity”, depending on the situation. The minister acknowledged this Monday that it was the information given on Friday, at an official meeting within the Atlantic Council, by one of the allies that led Spain to advise its citizens in Ukraine to leave the country. Although he has not revealed which country it is, the references he has offered, “an ally whose means of intelligence and analysis is far superior to any of ours,” suggest that it is the United States. The Joe Biden government maintains that, due to the movements of Russian troops, Europe is on the verge of an “imminent attack”.
Bet on dialogue
Albares himself has assumed that the moment is “very tense” and that the situation in Ukraine “worries“. “There are 130,000 Russian soldiers, a concentration that is not due to any threat to the security of Russia. Therefore, we take the threat very seriously.”
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But Spain remains committed to a diplomatic solution and, according to the minister, “Dialogue is still possible.” “For this, a de-escalation at the border is necessary.” The Dutch press itself has questioned him if we are headed for a military conflict because the dialogue does not seem to be leading anywhere, but the minister has insisted on “exploring this path until the last moment”. “We have to plug the war as much as we can.” “The dialogue must produce a relaxation, which leads to a de-escalation, which can only come from the Russian side.”
Albares has highlighted that Russia “continues to participate in the dialogue” and last Saturday Vladimir Putin and Biden spoke. “I do not minimize the enormous tension there is at the moment on the Russian border but war is not inevitable”.