Zelensky to visit Spain ‘in coming days’, chemistry experiment injures three children in Catalonia, EU to punish Spain for snubbing VAT rules for self-employed and more news on Thursday March 12th.
Zelensky to visit Spain ‘in coming days’: Spanish minister
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Spain “in the coming days”, the Spanish defence minister said on Wednesday, as Russia’s invasion enters a fifth year with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight.
“We cannot forget Ukraine. Ukraine is there, Ukraine exists, President Zelensky will come in the coming days,” Margarita Robles told journalists in Madrid without specifying a date.
Zelensky has already made visits to Spain as part of efforts to rally diplomatic and military support from Western allies since the full-scale war broke out in 2022.
In November, he secured a fresh military aid package worth €615 million ($714 million) from Spain after meeting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid.
The United States is pushing Kyiv and Moscow to agree to an elusive peace deal, but a third round of three-party talks has been derailed by the war in the Middle East.
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Chemistry experiment injures three children in Catalonia
Three children under the age of 9 have been burnt, two of them seriously, after an explosion during a chemistry experiment outside a school in Porqueres (Girona).
According to local emergency services, due to the effects of the explosion, two students, a boy and a girl, had to be evacuated in serious condition to the Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona, while another minor was transferred in mild condition to the Josep Trueta Hospital in Girona.
One of the minors admitted to the Barcelona hospital has been transferred in a medical helicopter and the other seriously injured one, in an ambulance.
This is not the first time the province has experienced a similar scientific accident. In September 2022, 18 people were injured when a liquid nitrogen drum exploded during a science outreach event in Girona.
EU to punish Spain for snubbing VAT rules for self-employed
The European Commission has decided to take Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for failing to transpose two EU directives related to VAT into national law within the established deadline.
One of these directives allows member states to exempt self-employed workers with annual revenues of up to €85,000 from paying VAT .
Brussels will also request that financial penalties be imposed, considering that the non-compliance persists despite previous warnings.
Spain sacks its ambassador in Israel
Spain formalised on Wednesday the dismissal of the Spanish ambassador to Israel Ana María Salomon, who had already been recalled for consultations last September amid escalating diplomatic tensions between Spain and Israel during the war in Gaza.
The departure comes “at the proposal” of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares , and “after deliberation” by the Council of Ministers at its meeting held on Tuesday.
With additional reporting by AFP.
