A month ago, King Emeritus Juan Carlos I traveled to Paris to participate in Mario Vargas Llosa's entrance ceremony at the Royal French Academy. He dined with the writer and with Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee. Today it is his son, King Felipe VI, who has visited the neighboring country, in this case to visit the OECD, where he has warned that the world order "is being reconfigured in a disorderly way" and has said that the war in Ukraine " has revealed a new geopolitical landscape in many respects: Democracy, individual liberties and human rights are under severe threat".
The monarch has highlighted the role of this organization in the successive crises that Europe has experienced, from the pandemic, the war, and the economic situation, with soaring inflation. "We knew that changes happen fast, but not so fast and so deep and the serious and unexpected obstacles that we were going to have to face," he said.
The King traveled with the First Vice President and Economy Minister, Nadia Calviño, and met with the OECD Secretary General, Mathias Cormann. This visit is part of those that the monarch has been making to different institutions since 2014, when he came to the throne.
The OECD already visited it in 2007, being Prince of Asturias. So "the scene seems similar to this, but the actors and the story have changed a lot, becoming much more complex", said Felipe VI, who has praised the way in which the OECD "managed the exit from the pandemic" and its response to "unexpected challenges."
"The pandemic, Russia's war in Ukraine, and its consequences in terms of inflation, disruptions, bottlenecks in the supply chain... have revealed to us a new geopolitical scenario of competition between different political systems in a vast region of Africa", he added in his speech.
"In these turbulent times, the OECD has proven to be a very dynamic organization that responds quickly to all unexpected challenges" and has become "a centerpiece of world governance", highlighted Felipe VI.
While the emeritus king is well known and appreciated in France, where the role he played in the development of democracy in Spain stands out, Felipe VI is much less known. He has a much more discreet profile, he is talked about more in the gossip, by Queen Letizia.
Felipe VI will also have the opportunity to tour the OECD Development Center in Boulogne-Billancourt. The King will thus become the first head of state to visit this facility, according to Zarzuela. The OECD is made up of 38 countries, including Spain, from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
