Joaquín Almunia, at ESADE: "Ukraine and Russia have a common history, although they are different countries. You can't negotiate with Ukraine without talking to Russia"

This morning at ESADE Madrid, the Spanish politician Joaquín Almunia, currently serving as European Commissioner for Competition, spoke bluntly about the Ukraine crisis. In response to a comment by ESADEgeo President Javier Solana, Mr. Almunia declared: "It’s impossible to reach an agreement with Kiev without negotiating with Russia. Ukraine and Russia are two different countries, but they have a common history that stretches back many years. Nevertheless, we must ease the rising tensions, or it will be impossible to reach a solution." Mr. Solana took a critical stance: "The European ministers who went to Kiev arrived too late and left too early. They also handed out too many treats."

During the session at ESADE Madrid, Mr. Almunia also discussed other international current-affairs topics, such as the immigration measures recently announced by Angela Merkel’s government in Germany: "These measures are not new; there has been a law regulating them since 2004. In fact, the same issue is now being discussed in Belgium." He added: "The EU needs to strengthen its legal immigration policies and regulate the admittance of workers as well as their integration in each country’s labour market."

In reference to the current situation in Spain, Mr. Almunia noted that the Spanish economy is currently facing the "risk of deflation". He also stressed the urgent need for "measures to stimulate economic growth in order to create employment and reduce debt". Mr. Almunia argued that such measures should follow in the footsteps of those already adopted by the European Central Bank. In his opinion, the ECB’s measures "have worked very well during the crisis: there have been design and diagnosis mistakes, but they have been corrected very quickly". He added: "However, not enough has been done. We have to keep working to prevent deflation."