PRES. MACRON TRAVELS TO BARCELONE TO SIGN 1st FRENCH-SPANISH FRIENDSHIP TREATY

USPA NEWS - A giant demonstration throughout France, brought together 1.12 million demonstrators, opposing the pension reform, very angry at the reform itself, but also because the President of the Republic left on the move in Spain. Indeed the reform which will be presented to the next Council of Ministers on January 23, 2023, proposing to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, for his part, traveled to Spain on the same day, January 19, in Barcelona, in order to participate alongside the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, in the 27th Franco- Spanish. He was accompanied by a dozen ministers during this trip. On this occasion, they signed the first Treaty of Friendship between France and Spain, called to structure the very rich cooperation that the two countries maintain.

A MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION BROUGHT TOGETHER 1,12 MILLION AGAINST PENSION'S REFORM A giant demonstration throughout France, brought together 1.12 million demonstrators (According to Ministry of Interior), opposing the pension reform, very angry at the reform itself, but also because the President of the Republic left on the move in Spain. Indeed the reform which will be presented to the next Council of Ministers on January 23, 2023, proposing to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, for his part, traveled to Spain on the same day, January 19, in Barcelona, in order to participate alongside the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, in the 27th Franco- Spanish. He was accompanied by a dozen ministers during this trip. On this occasion, they signed the first Treaty of Friendship between France and Spain, called to structure the very rich cooperation that the two countries maintain. THIS IS NOT A USPA FULL REPORT COVERAGE OF THE FRENCH PRESIDENT’ S TRIP. USPA, having been unable to cover this event, we are publishing the translation of an excerpt from the Joint Press release as it was delivered by the French Presidency.

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC ON THE OCCASION OF THE JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SPAIN PEDRO SANCHEZ
Mr President of the Government, dear Pedro,
Ladies and Gentlemen Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen Ambassadors,
Ladies and gentlemen.

Mr President, my dear friend, you have said everything about what is both the content and the spirit of this treaty which we are signing today and which is a first. This is the 27? Franco-Spanish bilateral summit. But it is in fact the first treaty of cooperation and friendship that we have signed, which may seem basically like an anomaly in our history, so much there is vitality between, basically, our young people, our entrepreneurs, our men and women of culture, our scientists, our managers in all sectors and we are thereby repairing a form of anomaly. We fix it by giving it meaning. And basically, the moment we are living in, I find illustrates it very well.

We find ourselves in a place that is a historical, cultural and religious heritage of this unique city that you have reinvested in a museum of modern art. And we are playing big politics here since we are signing this treaty there. It was, I think, the perfect metaphor for what we are doing. Based on a rich, plural history like a palimpsest, we manage to invent useful solutions for our compatriots, for today and tomorrow.

We took this decision together, you reminded us, in Montauban. You had made us the friendship of coming to a bilateral summit on March 15, 2021 and in Montauban, we had made important decisions. I see our parliamentarians who are there and who know it oh so much with this decision, in particular for the binationality which was long awaited and which entered into force on April 1, 2022. With also a tribute to the Spanish freedom fighters and the hundreds thousands of exiled Spanish Republicans who settled in France and contributed, along with their descendants, to the vitality of our country. And we had recorded this treaty, this Treaty of Barcelona, which is anchored in this context, this history and these exceptional bonds of friendship.

Indeed, between our peoples, there has always been a very intricate history, almost staggered. Because if we look at the long time, the construction of the royal state, the imperial expansion, the republican moment, our stories have always been made like that in relation, never totally synchronous, one sometimes being ahead of the other, and vice versa. But this slightly out of sync story has always made us walk together and fed, I have to say, a mutual fascination for the adventures, the fights, the culture and the history that we have built.

Between the French and Spanish peoples, there is also the link between the political leaders and the choices, the more recent cooperations which have been so important. Our cooperation has also been forged, let us remember, around the joint and victorious fight against terrorism and in particular the terrorist organization ETA, which is a joint effort now reoriented towards the fight against new terrorist networks and where this close cooperation in terms of security also nourishes our partnership. It also features prominently in our treaty.

Time and time again, we have been able to observe the density of our political dialogue which covers almost all aspects of cooperation between our two countries. And the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation that we have just signed will make it possible to deepen and structure many of these paths. It allowed our ministers to work together. It obviously makes it possible to renovate our defense cooperation framework. The existing framework dates back to 1983. It enables accelerated cooperation to be built in terms of rail, electricity, gas and hydrogen interconnection. The last few months have been fruitful in this area since we have together built BarMar, which is an important innovation and strengthens economic cooperation.
Our total trade was close to 80 billion euros last year. Spain's trade with France is equivalent to its trade with the entire American continent, North and South combined, and therefore we are essential partners for each other. " Source: Elysee French Presidency

CURRENT CONTEXT IN FRANCE
The general strike announced by the transport unions (FO CFDT, CGT, UNSA) and energy of January 19, left-wing political parties (LFI, NUPES, Communist Party, Socialist Party ) and the firefighters, took place in a peaceful manner. very massive, with 1.12 million demonstrators throughout France, against the retirement reform (which will be presented to the next council of ministers on January 23, 2023) which plans the postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The organizers, following this popular success, have already announced a new mobilization on January 31st.

Indeed, the eight union delegates meet to give a press conference this Wednesday in front of the National Assembly. The inter-union union, led by Philippe Martinez (CGT) calls for greater mobilization on January 31.
Youth organizations call for high schools to be blocked from Monday against pension reform
Youth organizations are calling for high schools to be blocked from Monday against the pension reform..../