Icelandic president hails China's contributions to global women's cause

Icelandic President Halla Tomasdottir on Tuesday praised China's important contributions to the global women's cause and voiced her willingness to strengthen her nation’s cooperation with China.

During an interview with China Media Group (CMG) following her attendance at the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women in Beijing, Tomasdottir acknowledged Chinese President Xi Jinping's commitments to gender equality, while emphasizing that China's voice on gender equality is significant on a global scale.

"I'm so honored to be invited to be here 30 years after the world's first female president was elected in my country and came here towards the end of her tenure. Thirty years later, I am here as the second female president of my country, Iceland. Yesterday, we had 110 or 120 countries present. We had your president, Xi Jinping, putting out not just a bold statement but bold commitments to gender equality. And I think in a world where we are facing backlash on an agenda that I think is incredibly important for the development of the world, both economically and socially, and I have high hopes that China is with the commitments that your president made yesterday. China is a big country, your voice and what you do and what you put on the agenda really matters to the rest of us," Tomasdottir said.

Tomasdottir described her Tuesday meeting with Xi as positive. She noted that they had exchanged views on important bilateral issues and engaged in discussions on major global challenges.

"We spoke mostly about geothermal and how we have trained for a long time in Iceland, for nearly four decades, Chinese engineers and geothermal capacity and how there is now a joint venture between China and Arctic Green, an Icelandic company, that is really looking to utilize geothermal, already doing it in 70 cities in China, but has the potential to do so much more. But also, I think together Iceland and China can tell a story about how a smaller country and a bigger country can work together using each other's strength," Tomasdottir said.

Icelandic president hails China's contributions to global women's cause

As U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran continue, their repercussions are increasingly being felt across Europe, Spanish residents and politicians are urging a united European to call for peace and solve the disputes through diplomatic means.

In Spain, the ongoing conflict has led to a sharp rise in the prices of goods and fuel in Madrid, the capital. People's voices are growing louder in their appeal for European nations to stand together against war and to resolve international disputes through dialogue and negotiation rather than military force.

"The U.S. has launched a war whose legitimacy is in question. The U.S. government then sought help from its allies with military bases, but the Spanish government refused this request. In response, the U.S. is considering trade restrictions against Spain, and possibly more measures. All of this is affecting local prices," said Nicolas, a Madrid resident.

Spanish officials warn that U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran are undermining international consensus and impacting the daily lives of people around the world. They urge European nations to stand with Spain in firmly opposing conflict and war, and to resolve disputes through diplomacy and negotiation.

"This conflict has indeed affected the way of life for us Spaniards. Although our military bases will not be used for attacks, food and energy prices keep rising. This means, whether we like it or not, we are directly or indirectly involved in this war, just like other parts of the world. That's why we need to show solidarity. We fully support the anti-war stance taken by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and government from the very beginning, and strongly recommend that this position be more strongly reflected at the European level," said Jose Luis Centella, chairman of the Communist Party of Spain.

Spain urges Europe to unite for peace amid US-Israel strikes on Iran