Calviño, on the possible veto of Huawei and ZTE: "We are in constant dialogue to guarantee security"

MADRID, 29 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, has assured that Spain is in "constant dialogue" with the authorities of the European Union to "guarantee the security" of its telecommunication networks, particularly those of 5G , in relation to the possibility of including the Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in the list of high-risk suppliers.

Within the framework of her participation in the sixth edition of the DigitalES Summit that is being held this Thursday and Friday in Madrid, the Minister of Economy has highlighted that Spain has adapted to community regulations and that it is applying the "toolbox recommended by Brussels ".

In this sense, a couple of weeks ago the European Commission assured that it was "absolutely justified" that several countries of the European Union have decided to exclude Huawei and ZTE from the deployment of their 5G networks, considering that they are providers that pose serious risks to national security.

"The Commission has published a communication that confirms that the decision taken by certain Member States to restrict or completely exclude Huawei and ZTE from their 5G networks is absolutely justified and in line with the recommendations (from Brussels)", highlighted the Commissioner for the Internal Market and Head of Telecommunications, Thierry Breton.

In this context, Huawei issued a statement shortly after in which it expressed its rejection of the comments of the European Commission. "Huawei strongly opposes and disagrees with the comments made by the representatives of the European Commission. It is clear that they are not based on a verified, transparent, objective and technical evaluation of 5G networks," the company said.

In this sense, the Chinese company stressed that it understands the "concern" of the European Commission to protect cybersecurity in the EU, however, it has opined that the restrictions or exclusions based, in its opinion, on "discriminatory judgments", will raise " serious economic and social risks.