A Southern European Alliance (Spain-Australia Summit)
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Palacio de la Moncloa
21st February 2022It was a sunny day in Madrid, once again. For the first time in a few weeks, the Spanish President, Jesús Aguilar, had been able to take his children to school for his wife, who had to leave for work earlier than usually. He enjoyed taking his children to school, even if that implied being photographed by spontaneous people walking by the street, or either surprisingly met by the Spanish press and asked some questions, which he always answered despite not being the best moment to give a response to the press. Problems of being President, he guessed.
After coming back from his familiar affairs and having breakfast, the President worked in his office preparing the summit with such an important partner as Australia. Both countries shared a community, the Atlantic one; had similar things like the weather; and were close to each other. When his cabinet worked on the organization of the summit, the Australians proposed a Southern European Alliance, something the Kingdom would have to perfection in order to avoid a Telum Treaty duplication, but to assure the Spanish-Australian relationship stayed strong, stable and far from non-wished foreign influences.
Aguilar was then warned of the arrival of the Australian delegation, and as always made its way downstairs to the main door of the Consejo de Ministros' building. The vehicle carrying, where the Prime Minister of Australia and her aide found theirselves, stopped in front of him. A member of the security service opened the door, and both came out. Jesús shook hands with both, led them to his right-hand side, as the protocol he had learnt said, and the press was allowed to took photos. He then told the couple to follow him, leading the Australian delegation to the Tapiès Hall, where the summit would take place. More photos were taken, and a glass of water was served. After two minutes, the President invited the media to leave the room, something they did with not much opposition. The doors were closed, and once they were left alone, Jesús Aguilar finally said something:
"Miss Prime Minister, aide Jerry, welcome to Madrid and to Spain! It is nice to have both of you here today, and I am really happy to hear we both are willing to look forward a southern European alliance that will make our ties stronger and our relationship improve. How was your journey from Canberra? Is it sunny there, like here, or does the weather vary compared to the one we are having here today? Also, would you like something to drink apart from this glass of water?
Before we start, I would like to gift you this bunch of bananas, from the Canary Islands. They are great quality, but make sure they are eaten during the next 2 or 3 days, as their quality lasts for that time! Once you get one of those into your mouth, you will be able to appreciate the big quality Spanish food has. -said the Spanish President- And now, with the presentations done and everything prepared, where should we start from?"
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"Well, I'd like to talk about free trade," Julie said. "What sectors did you have in mind."
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The Spanish President then opened one of his dossiers, where he had some information about Australia and what they offered. He had done some previous research about it, but reading the information for another time was what the Spanish President needed to do if he wanted to start the summit correctly:
"I have brought some dossiers with information about both Spain and Australia, so let me hand you the one about my country while I read the dossier about your country once again... -the President handed the dossier to his guests, and rapidly read the one about Australia- Okay, I have just finished. So, Spain is pretty much interested on fishing licenses, military products and goods made in Australia. As you know, one of the main areas for Spanish business is food, and assuring that we will not have problems when it comes to fishing in Australian waters, and the same could be applied to fishers wishing to carry on this noble activity in Spanish waters.
Military products are also interesting to us. We know that Australia has got many products of our interest, and I am glad that some adquisitions have been made already, like those nuclear submarines your Government sold to mine, which sets a precendent and an awesome base for a military products partnership, but we can speak about that later on. Finally, I would like to know what kind of goods does Australia produce, as they do not appear on my dossier, my most deep apologies.
When it comes to Spain, I must say we have a lot to offer: food, some furniture, technological products, military products. I would also like to know the areas you are interested in about my country. I do believe, however, that the best thing to do in this cases in which we have a lot of interest in several products is signing an extensive free trade deal that gets everything or mostly everything compiled on it, so we ease restrictions to foreign investment from our respective nations and we allow more people to start or either expand their business here or in Australia, two countries which are really close to each other, which would certainly generate several benefits".
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"That agreement sounds wonderful," Julie answered. "Trade across all sectors is important to Australia. Now how about a military agreement?"
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Aguilar smiled as he regarded how good the summit was seeming to be going. The military part was a very important point for the Spanish Government, that is why the Papacito had prepared himself in anticipation of this and asked Minister of Defence, Pedro Baños, about what interests the Spanish had in Australia. There were many, the Minister said, so Aguilar decided to consult his Telum partners on Australia joining the alliance. The answer he got was possitive, and he would not let this chance go away:
"On the military aspects, we would like to grant Australia a formal invite into Telum Treaty, of which the Duxburian Union, Inquista, Inimicus, North Diessen and Spain are members. We believe it is important to have stronger ties, not just economical or social but also military ones to keep our region stable and far from ambitious, stubborn nations that only want to cause de-estabilization around the region and specially this crucial area for Europe which is the Atlantic-Mediterranean-Red Sea axis. Does your government accept the invite then, Ms. Bishop?
On the other hand, we are looking forward to affirming an equipment deal with Australia, as they have very valuable equipment for us such as nuclear submarines, to give you a brief example. But their other products are specially awesome."
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"Australia would love that," the Prime Minister said. She smiled knowing it went so well. Julie knew this was an important summit. Australia was enjoying their EU debut
"Telum would be ideal."
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"Awesome!", President Jesús Aguilar answered, while thinking on how perfect this summit was being. With a military equipment deal, a new member into Telum that would surely be accepted, not many areas were left to cover. As free movement would be covered by the Treaty of Telum, the only thing the Spanish President had on mind and left on this list was tying up the Australian support for his claims in Adventuranza, or at least, getting to no the Australian position on the issue.
"I would like to know what the Australian position concerning the Strait of Adventuranza is, Ms. Rudd. As you know, the Kingdom of Spain has a certain issue on that area of the world, which I must recognisethat it is crucial for us and our development. Apart from that, is there anything else that Australia wishes to speak about?", said the President.
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"We consider the Strait is Spanish but acknowledge Yosai can use it freely," Julie said. She understood how controversial this could be. "You probably wanted something more comital."
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Jesús Aguilar smiled. He had got the answer he was expecting, and those were great news:
"In fact, Miss Primer Minister, that is pretty much alright. That recognition means a lot to me, a lot for us as a country. Thank you very much for this gesture, and let me point out that if you ever need our help for any territorial claim or affair of relevance or concern for your country, you will find in Spain a very trustworthy ally and friend. We do always accomplish our word, or at least when it comes to my Government, we do. This time, it will not be different.
From my side, I have nothing more to add to this summit. Would the Australian delegation or yourself be willing to comment on some other affairs we have not yet spoken about, if there is any left?", asked the President.
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"I don't have anything else," the Prime Minister said.
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"I guess we are finished then! What a productive summit this one has been" - Aguilar smiled, standing up from the sofa were he had been seated for 2 hours staight, so had his guest today - "Ms. Gillard, it has been a huge pleasure to welcome you to Moncloa, to the Treaty of Telum and establish huge cooperation with our neighbour, which I have to point out are very important for us. Thank you very much for the compromises you adquired today, ands well as for the proposals you brough to the summit".
Aguilar then accompanied the Australian Prime Minister to the main door, where both said goodbye to each other. Julie left Spain some time after the summit ended, and Aguilar was back at home, just a few steps away from the building the meeting took place. He thought on what had happened on the summit today: "we are making new friends and gaining new allies, and we are winning the battle. Step by step Jesús, this year will be amazing".
The summit ended for the Spaniard, who spent the rest of the afternoon playing with his children and his wife.
The Kingdom of Spain