Mariano Rajoy meets with Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Brussels (Belgium)

During their bilateral meeting, which took place prior to the ordinary meeting of Heads of State and Government, the two leaders tackled issues such as the future of the European Union and the management of migratory flows. They also spoke about the upcoming Rome Summit on 25 March to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the founding Treaty of the European Economic Community.

Mariano Rajoy also conveyed to his Dutch counterpart his impressions on Europe following the meeting he held on Monday in Versailles with the French President, François Hollande, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni.

Congratulations to Donald Tusk

The President of the Government congratulated the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, on his re-election to the position for the next two and a half years, and wished him very success in the job. Mariano Rajoy claimed that the European Union needs stability to continue moving forwards and, in this regard, considers that Donald Tusk "has done a good job".

The president highlighted that there "was no reason not" to re-elect Donald Tusk, and in fact, "of the 28 countries, 27 had given him their support".

Brexit

With regard to the consequences of Brexit, Mariano Rajoy stressed that "a drama should not be made out of these issues". He pointed out the need for the United Kingdom, Europe and also Spain to "negotiate well".

The president expressed his confidence that "things will be done well" and recalled that "we will work towards that being the case".