The Universitat de València and the Ministry of Defence have signed a collaboration agreement between both institutions in the Convent of Santo Domingo, headquarters of the ‘Cuartel General de Alta Disponibilidad (Cgtad)’ counting with the presence of both institutions represented in the agreement.

On the part of the Universitat de València have attended the Principal Mª Vicenta Mestre, the general secretary Mª Elena Olmos, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Javier Palao and the professors Javier de Lucas and Consuelo Ramón, director of the Institute for Human Rights and coordinator of the programme of PhD in Human Rights, Democracy and International Justice, respectively. On behalf of the Ministry of Defence, the Lieutenant General Francisco José Gan Pampols and the delegate of Defence in the Valencian Community Rafael Morenza Tato have exercised said role.

The Universitat de València signed this agreement, according to Mª Vicenta Mestre, ‘to move forward in the ambit of education and research in common interest that we may have about defence, peace and security.’ The Principal, the representative of the institution at this event, has added that ‘this give us an important and necessary legal framework to carry out specific collaborative projects that improve citizens’ quality life and that, also allow us to investigate and to transfer knowledge.’

On his part, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, the professor Dr. Javier Palao, has been pleased by the signing of this agreement. ‘Today is a great day for the Faculty because, someway, we are able to close one of the most powerful lines of research that the centre has. The Dean of the Faculty has remarked the transversal characteristics of the defence since ‘deals with law, the Institute for Human Rights, geopolitics, strategy and security and with subjects that we teach in the Political Science Degree. Likewise, he has highlighted the relationship and the impact that this has in the context of general defence, the relation with security institutions of the State like the CNI, the foreign office or the Armed Forces.

In the name of the Ministry of Defence, the Lieutenant General Gan Pampols has qualified as ‘extraordinary positive’ the sign of this agreement, since gives ‘a framework of relationship to a powerful institution, from the point of view of education and the improvement, as is the Universitat de València with a structure that is in constant evolution, which is the Ministry of Defence.’ Furthermore, the Lieutenant General considers that ‘this is an opportunity, without any doubt, unique, to deepen in aspects related to peace, security and defence’ forward-looking to the development of postgraduate studies and research.