The UK shows its inconditional support to Ukraine

Hugh Elliott, ambassador of the United Kingdom to Spain, has highlighted, during his speech at the VIII Foreign Policy Seminar at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas, that "we stay true to our values, and that means we are not going to allow the violation of international standards". He has shown his firm support to Ukraine "until they win the war". Apart from pointing out that Britain is the world's sixth largest economy, the ambassador highlighted the Commonwealth's network of alliances and the fact that "we are a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and we have a way of combining hard and soft power, and a clear disposition and willingness to use them".

The participants of the seminar, organised by the Winston Churchill Observatory and the Department of International Relations at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas, with the support of the British Embassy, talked about the UK's international presence, its role in Europe, relations with Spain, or even the way in which Winston Churchill shaped Britain's foreign policy and how it has endured to this day. "We are still in Europe, with which we share our history, our common bonds, our values and interests, opportunities and challenges," said the ambassador.

"We have gone beyond Brexit, analysing the importance of the United Kingdom in today's world and the ties that bind it to Spain," reflects Emilio Sáenz-Francés, director of the Winston Churchill Observatory at Comillas. "It is clear that the British foreign policy builds responsible relations with all international participants based on inalienable values such as freedom, democracy, human rights and strict compliance with the rules," he says.

Several representatives of British politics attended the meeting, such as Sir Chris Bryant, Deputy of the Labour Party, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe and Asia (2009-2010), and Harriet Mathews, Deputy Political Director at the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). She said that the UK "is pushing for a rapprochement with a greater number of countries", and that "we are not in the European Union, but we have a strong presence in many other international institutions such as the UN, NATO and the OECD".

The economy and companies also played an important role during the conference. José Manuel Rodríguez, Global Head for Government and Institutional Affairs at Iberdrola and lecturer in the Department of International Relations at Comillas, pointed out that "companies are the new participants in International Relations and have an important role to play in the construction of Europe because "governments alone do not have a vision on energy transition". He also said that China is an important participant in the energy transition, but that "if we go too fast in this transition, we will be less competitive".