Mariano Rajoy and Barack Obama highlight healthy relations between Spain and United States

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

The two leaders highlighted the economic achievements made by Spain in recent years. Mariano Rajoy stressed that the President of the United States is highly aware of economic trends in Spain and highlighted the fact that Spain is no longer in recession and that it is the fastest growing Eurozone economy. "We have resolved numerous imbalances, we have gained competitiveness and the Spanish economy can therefore look forward to the future with optimism provided that we maintain an economic policy of control over public accounts and continue to implement structural reforms", said Mariano Rajoy.

In turn, Barack Obama congratulated the "President of the Government and the people of Spain on the progress achieved by the economy. It has been a difficult journey but many of the changes made are starting to produce results".

Forming a government

Pool Moncloa/Diego CrespoMariano Rajoy underlined the need to form a government as soon as possible and stressed that he will do everything within his power to do so. While ensuring that having an acting government in place for the last seven months has not damaged the economy, he said that building a stable government is essential. "I am absolutely convinced that everyone will act responsibly and that Spain will therefore have a government soon", he said.

Both Mariano Rajoy and Barack Obama agreed that, regardless of the outcome of the US elections and the process to form a government in Spain, bilateral relations between the two countries will continue to be excellent. Barack Obama stressed that US-Spanish relations are extremely strong and that this has enabled joint efforts to be undertaken on numerous issues.

At the meeting, they also spoke about Spain's role in NATO. In this regard, Barack Obama thanked "the people of Spain and the Spanish armed forces for the extraordinary leadership provided within the framework of NATO initiatives and the work being carried out by Spain to educate and train military servicemen and policemen in Iraq".

Refugee crisis

Pool Moncloa/Fernando CalvoAs regards the refugee crisis and immigration for economic reasons, Mariano Rajoy reiterated that the problems should be resolved in the countries of origin. "We believe it is important to resolve the problems in Libya and Syria quickly because that will help us a great deal", he said. Mariano Rajoy explained to Barack Obama "the efforts being made in the European Union for it to provide assistance when trying to resolve the problems at source".

Latin America

As regards the situation in Cuba, Mariano Rajoy said that the two leaders "had spoken about the future with optimism" and also wished the best for the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, "who is making a great effort". Regarding Venezuela, Mariano Rajoy and Barack Obama agreed on the need for the situation in this country to return to normality as soon as possible.