A technical failure in the official aircraft forced Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to land in Ankara, Turkey, while heading to the European Political Community summit in Armenia. He will spend the night there and resume the trip Monday morning. Arrival in Yerevan is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. Spanish time.
The Airbus A310 carrying Pedro Sánchez and his delegation took off from Torrejón de Ardoz air base in Madrid shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday bound for Yerevan, Armenia's capital. Government sources reported a technical failure, downplayed in severity, required following protocol to land in Ankara.
There, the prime minister will spend the night and resume the journey early Monday once the issue is resolved. The summit, the eighth of the European Political Community, gathers nearly 50 leaders, including the EU's 27 and non-member states. Canada will attend for the first time, represented by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Under the motto “Building the future: unity and stability in Europe,” the forum will discuss cooperation on democracy, economic and energy security. Sánchez will join a roundtable on democratic resilience and hybrid threats, co-chaired by France and Moldova. Government sources cited by EFE say he will advocate greater control of foreign information manipulation, limiting anonymity on social media, and setting a digital age of majority.
The incident echoes the September 4 event, when a Falcon breakdown forced Sánchez to turn back en route to Paris and join a Ukraine coalition meeting remotely. Sánchez will return to Madrid after the summit on Monday.
