Russia–Spain relations

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Russia–Spain relations
Map indicating locations of Russia and Spain

Russia
Spain

The

Grand Duchy of Moscow first exchanged envoys in 1520s; regular embassies were established in 1722. The two countries share a long history of relations, characterized at times by close cooperation and at other times by deep hostility. Soviet-Spanish relations, once terminated after the Spanish Civil War, were gradually reestablished starting in 1963 and were fully established by 1977. Trade between the two countries amounted to two billion euros
in 2008. In March 2009, the two countries signed an energy agreement providing national energy companies access to other party's domestic markets.

Muscovy and Imperial Russia

Official contacts between the

Charles I of Spain notified Grand Duke Vasili III of Russia of his ascension to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1523, Yakov Polushkin delivered Vasili's response to the court at Valladolid, thus becoming the first Russian envoy to Spain.[1] In 1525 Russian envoys Ivan Zasekin-Yaroslavsky and Semyon Borisov presented their credentials to Charles; they brought news of the discovery of the Americas to Muscovy.[1]

The

which?] studied the Inquisition not "as an example to avoid but a model to imitate".[3]

Another temporary contact was established by

Alexis I of Russia.[1][3]

Regular embassies of the two countries were established by

Peter I of Russia and Philip V of Spain in 1722; in 1723, the Russian Empire also opened a consulate in Cádiz. Prince Sergey Golitsyn served as the first Russian ambassador to Spain; duke Diego Francisco de Liria, who also inherited the Jacobite title of Duke of Berwick, served as ambassador of Spain in Russia. However, after the unexpected death of Peter II of Russia, Spain declared the ascension of Anna of Russia unlawful and severed diplomatic relations until 1759.[1] De Liria, who closely watched the events of 1730, provided an important account of Anna's ascension.[4]

In 1799–1801 Spain severed ties after

Isabella II of Spain.[1] Apart from these two conflicts, relationships were uneventful; the two countries were never engaged in direct war against each other. In 1756–1763 they were allies in the Seven Years' War. During the Napoleonic Wars
the two countries were both allies and foes, but never engaged each other directly.

While

Ferdinand VII (1784-1833). Plans for sales of warships were kept secret to avoid British interference. In August 1817, Russia sold the Spanish Navy five ships of the line and three frigates. They were delivered to Cádiz in February 1818.[5] Russia ignored the independent Latin American states until the late 19th century.[6]

In 1893, Director of Police Pyotr Nikolayevich Durnovo caused a minor diplomatic incident by ordering secret agents to steal correspondence between the Spanish Ambassador and his mistress, a prostitute whom Durnovo had become smitten with. The crisis ended when the ambassador complained to Tsar Alexander III, who dismissed Durnovo.[7]

During the

George Mikhailovich Romanov, who was born on March 13, 1981. [3]

Soviet period

The Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with the Second Spanish Republic on July 28, 1933. Moscow for years tried to purify the Spanish Communist Party by expelling anarchist and Trotskyite members, but the process took years and was finally handled by outside Communists sent to Spain in the Spanish Civil War who exposed and executed opponents.[8] Ambassador Marsel Rosenberg (1896–1938), his adviser and successor Leon Gaikis (1898–1937), and Consul-general Vladimir Antonov-Ovseenko (1883–1938) arrived in Madrid in 1936, when Spanish Civil War was already underway. The three were soon recalled to Moscow and executed for an alleged Trotskist conspiracy.[1]

The Soviet Union actively supported the

Foreign involvement in the Spanish Civil War). The monument to Soviet volunteers in Madrid, inaugurated in 1989 by mayor Juan Barranco Gallardo and Soviet ambassador Sergey Romanovsky, lists 182 names of identified Soviet combatants killed during the war.[9] With the fall of Republicans and the victory of the Nationalists in 1939, the Soviet Union lost all ties with Spain, now under Franco. During World War II the Blue Division of Spanish volunteers in the Wehrmacht fought against the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern Front until Francisco Franco removed them. Franco steered away from direct participation in the war and maintained Spain's neutrality
.

Spain's relations with the Soviets after World War II were described as "the worst, though hardly the most problematic",[10] culminating in Nikita Khrushchev's speech against Franco's regime in the United Nations General Assembly on October 1, 1960 and Franco's ban on the Spain vs. USSR game of the 1960 European Nations' Cup scheduled earlier in the same year.[10][11] Soon, however, the same leaders began gradual reestablishment of contacts. In April 1963 Khrushchev and Franco exchanged letters on disarmament[12] and the fate of Julián Grimau;[13] in January 1964 Franco appealed to Khrushchev again.[14] According to Soviet explanation of events, the move was initiated by the Spanish government.[15]

Until 1969, relations were informally maintained through Soviet and Spanish embassies in France. In 1967 Spanish and Soviet representatives agreed to open their seaports to ships carrying flag of the other country; in 1969 the Soviet state-owned Black Sea Shipping Company opened an office in Madrid – the first Soviet establishment in Spain since the Civil War. This office, staffed by professional diplomats, and headed by Sergey Bogomolov, who relocated to Madrid from Paris, doubled as the de facto Soviet consulate.[15]

The two countries signed an agreement on foreign trade in 1972. It promoted amicable diplomatic relations and the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Juan Carlos I of Spain on May 5, 1977. Relations of this period were not exactly friendly, marred with mutual expulsion of alleged spies operating under diplomatic immunity;[15] things got worse when Spain was admitted into NATO in 1981, an act regarded by the USSR as a "violation of Soviet interests".[18]

After Bogomolov moved up to a senior position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1978, he was replaced by Yuri Dubinin, who steered Soviet policy in Spain through the last phase of the Cold War, until 1986.[19] Dubinin actively promoted the idea of a state visit by Juan Carlos to Moscow; only after five years of preparations did Andrei Gromyko approve the visit[19] that materialized in May 1984.[20] Alexander Igorevich Kuznetsov, former (2005 to 2012) Russian ambassador to Spain and Andorra, has served in Madrid under Dubinin in 1982–1986.[21]

The Embassy of Russia in Madrid, inherited from the Soviet Union, was built in 1986–1991. The land lot at 155, Calle de Velázquez, was provided to the Soviets in 1980, but was loaded with zoning regulations limiting building height to 6 meters, presence of Spanish Armed Forces cables running underground and a gypsy squat town sprawling above – these obstacles held off construction for years.[22] The building was initially designed by painter Ilya Glazunov; Glazunov later contributed interior design, building structure was redesigned by architect Anatoly Polikarpov.[22]

Russian Federation

1991-2021

Spain and

post-Communist Russia established diplomatic relations on December 9, 1991. This resulted in improved economic, trade, and cultural relations. There were museum exhibition exchanges and several visits between the two countries' leaders including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and Spanish King Juan Carlos I. They dealt with the issue of Kosovo's independence from Serbia, Spain's chairmanship of the European Union (EU) in 2010, and foreign energy policy.[23] Igor Ivanov, a veteran of the Soviet embassy in Madrid, was appointed Ambassador of Russia to Spain[1] and served in Madrid until 1994.[24] In April 1994 president Boris Yeltsin became the first Russian head of state to pay a state visit to Spain. Juan Carlos visited Russia in 2002,[25] 2006,[26] 2008 and 2012.[27]

Spain's share in Russian foreign trade in early 2000s hovered at just above 1% of Russian exports (dominated by oil and raw materials); Spanish exports to Russia were significantly lower (2001: 488 million US dollars vs. 890 million).[28] In 2008, according to Dmitry Medvedev, foreign trade levelled at 2 billion Euro (less than 1% of either country's foreign trade) while that between Russia and other countries comparable to Spain is measured in tens of billion euro.[29] Spain's share in foreign direct investment to Russian economy remains insignificant, the largest investment (as at 2003), at 319 million US dollars, has been made by Segura Consulting.[30]

In December 2000 the relations were strained by Spain' refusal to extradite fugitive banker and media executive Vladimir Gusinsky. Gusinsky, arrested and released in Spain, emigrated to Israel in April 2001.[31]

During the most recent state visit of Russian president

Gas Natural that gives the Spanish side access to Gazprom's export pipelines and, potentially, Shtokman gas field output, in exchange for a stake in Spanish electric utilities.[32]

In 2016, the Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Ignacio Ybanez, told NATO officials Spain's support for constructive relations and cooperation between Russia and NATO, so the country defends the continuation of the political dialogue, said the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[citation needed]

In 2019, Spain and Russia regained their cooperation, deteriorated by economic and political tides. Of this, many evidence was recently provided, ranging from the inauguration at the

Felipe VI," Putin stressed.[citation needed] The Spanish monarch, Felipe VI, launching a Europeanist message in the face of the European Parliament elections held in May, defended Russia's "key" role for economic prosperity.[citation needed] The deputy governor of Moscow Oblast, Vadim Jromov, said, in exclusive statements to The Diplomat, that there are several areas of cooperation between Russia and Spain “very broadly favorable to both” and "we consider that the business world has nothing to do with sanctions and we will continue to support friendly relations between Spain and Russia, which are already hundreds of years old and are not going to be changed by particular decisions taken at any given time”. [4] The Minister Counselor of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Spain, Dmitry Sokolov, classified the relations between Spain and Russia as excellent and declared that “we don't mess with the internal politics of Spain. The differences and internal disputes of any country must be resolved based on the Constitution, laws and dialogue between the political forces”. [5] Both countries celebrated 300 years of diplomatic and cultural relations that led to the inauguration of permanent embassies in 1723, recalling that "500 years ago the first official contacts between the Spanish court and the Muscovite Duchy took place."[citation needed
]

In 2020, the representative of Russian diplomacy said in the margins of the 11th edition of the Gaidar Forum to ignore whether contacts have already been established between Moscow and the new Spanish Government, and assured that Russia is interested in "deepening the traditional friendly relations and of association "with Spain. "We believe that there is no reason for our nations to be guided by the politics of others and we trust that Russian-Spanish relations, with the current Government - or with any other - have a good future," he said. The Russian ambassador in Madrid, Yuri Korchagin, assured Efe that relations between Spain and Russia have been "excellent" with both the People's Party government and now with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. "Never, with democratic governments in Spain, have we had any problems or any impasse. There is always an interest in moving forward, promoting our relationship and friendship. Relations between Russia and Spain are friendly," he said. [6] He also declared: "If Spain had a more active or proactive role in re-establishing bridges (between the EU and Russia), it would play a historic role that would benefit everyone." [7]

Spain, along with rest of the European Union (EU) member states, positioned against Russia during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests and for the arrest of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.[34] [8]

2022-present

After the

unfriendly nations".[35] In light of the EU sanctions, Spanish authorities started to impound a number of superyachts believed to belong to Russian oligarchs.[36] On 5 April 2022, the Spanish foreign minister announced the expulsion of 25 Russian diplomats and embassy staff, deemed to "represent a threat to the security of our country" (Spain).[37]

However, on July 11, 2022, news broke that Spain's purchase of Russian gas had increased, making Russia the second largest supplier of gas to Spain, only behind the United States. This is due, according to the Minister of Ecological Transition, Teresa Ribera, to "prior agreements" to the invasion of Ukraine.[38] Russia thus surpassed Algeria in the ranking of the largest gas suppliers to Spain, due to the diplomatic crisis that Algeria and Spain are suffering, which caused a collapse of Algerian gas imports, after Spain changed its position to a pro-Morocco position regarding the Western Sahara conflict.

Trade

In 2021 Spain exported $2.76 billion worth of goods to Russia with clothing being the main item. Russia exported $5.54 billion of goods with refined oil as the top product. Between 1995 and 2021 Spanish exports have risen by an average of 7.94% p.a. whilst Russian exports have risen by 5.77% on average.[39]

August 2023 saw Spain export €66.2m and import €93.2 million in the month showing a large fall in trade and a closing of the trade gap.[39]

Resident diplomatic missions

  • Embassy of Russia in Madrid
    Embassy of Russia in Madrid
  • Consulate-General of Russia in Barcelona
    Consulate-General of Russia in Barcelona
  • Embassy of Spain in Moscow
    Embassy of Spain in Moscow
  • Consulate-General of Spain in Saint Petersburg
    Consulate-General of Spain in Saint Petersburg

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Embassy of Russia in Spain" (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official site).
  2. ^ Hillgarth, p. 481
  3. ^ a b Hillgarth, p. 480
  4. ^ Anisimov, pp. 80-84
  5. ^ Russell H. Bartley, Imperial Russia and the Struggle for Latin American Independence, 1808–1828 (1978), ch. 3.
  6. ^ William Spence Robertson, "Russia and the Emancipation of Spanish America, 1816-1826: Hispanic American Historical Review 21#2 (1941), pp. 196-221 DOI: 10.2307/2507393 online
  7. OCLC 35657827
    .
  8. ^ Tim Rees, "Deviation and discipline: anti-Trotskyism, Bolshevization and the Spanish Communist party, 1924–34." Historical Research 82.215 (2009): 131-156.
  9. ^ "Pamyatnik sovetskim dobrovoltsam" (in Russian). Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official site).
  10. ^ a b Payne, p. 531
  11. ^ Spanish withdrawal from this tournament paved way to Soviets winning the 1960 title.
  12. ^ Hoffman, Paul (April 29, 1963). "Spanish press curbs indicated in delays". The New York Times, April 29, 1963. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  13. ^ Hoffmann, Paul (April 21, 1963). "Franco defends execution of Red". The New York Times, April 20, 1963. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  14. ^ Hofmann, Paul (April 29, 1963). "Franco Sends Message On Peace to Khrushchev". The New York Times, January 28, 1964. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  15. ^ a b c d "Posol Sovetskogo Soyuza" (in Russian). Ediciones Rusas Mediana, S.L., "Комсомольская правда в Испании". 2007. Archived from the original on 2011-08-27.
  16. ^ Yu. Korchagin and A. Rubinchik, "Towards a Strategic Partnership: On the 40th Anniversary of the Trade Agreement Between Russia and Spain" International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy & International Relations (2012) 58#6 pp 146-152.
  17. ^ Gladman, p. 586
  18. ^ "Soviets assail NATO decision to accept Spain". The New York Times, December 13, 1981. December 13, 1981. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  19. ^ a b "Posol, posol! (interview with ambassador Dubinin)" (in Russian). Ediciones Rusas Mediana, S.L., "Комсомольская правда в Испании". 2004.
  20. ^ "Juan Carlos of Spain Starts Visit to Soviet". The New York Times, May 11, 1984. May 11, 1984. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  21. ^ "Official biography of ambassador Kuznetsov (in Russian)". Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (official site).
  22. ^ a b "Bely dom v centre Madrida" (in Russian). Ediciones Rusas Mediana, S.L., "Комсомольская правда в Испании". 2005.
  23. ^ N. Anikeeva, and Yu. Dubinin, "Moscow-Madrid: Cooperation Milestones." International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy & International Relations (2011) 57#3 pp 214-221
  24. ^ Ivanov, preface
  25. ^ "Vladimir Putin, Juan Carlos I meet in Moscow's Kremlin". RIA Novosti, August 19, 2002.
  26. ^ "King of Spain Shoots a Drunken Bear Dead". Kommersant, October 19, 2006.
  27. ^ President of Russia - Meeting with King Juan Carlos I of Spain
  28. ^ Gladman, p. 330
  29. ^ "Medvedev prizval ne vozvodit berlinskuyu stenu." (in Russian). RIA Novosti, March 1, 2009. March 2009.
  30. ^ Rogacheva, Elena (2003). "European FDI in Russia" (PDF). OCO consulting.
  31. ^ Gladman, p. 307
  32. ^ a b c "Russia, Spain sign energy deal, smoothing investments". Reuters, March 3, 2009. March 3, 2009.
  33. El Periodico de Catalunya
    , 23 May 2019. 2019-05-23.
  34. ^ "Conclusions by the President of the European Council following the video conference of the members of the European Council on 19 August 2020". European Council. 19 August 2020.
  35. ^ Lee, Michael (8 March 2020). "Here are the nations on Russia's 'unfriendly countries' list". CTV News.
  36. ^ Minder, Raphael; Forsythe, Michael (16 March 2022). "Spain seizes another Russian yacht believed to belong to an oligarch". The New York Times.
  37. ^ Merino, Juan Carlos (5 April 2022). "España expulsa a 25 diplomáticos y personal de la embajada rusa tras la matanza de Bucha". La Vanguardia.
  38. ^ elEconomista.es. "España compra a Rusia una cifra histórica de gas en junio y ya es su segundo proveedor - elEconomista.es". www.eleconomista.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  39. ^ a b "Spain/Russia". September 2023.

Further reading

External links

Sources
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