“We have to tell the Netanyahu government: enough.” The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, has not left room for ambiguities in his appearance after the First day of the European Council And he has firmly reacted to Israel Embassy statement In Madrid, which accused him of being “on the wrong side of the story” for having requested the suspension of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel.
Far from correcting his position, Pedro Sánchez has reaffirmed his position and has claimed European leaders to maintain their pressure on Tel Aviv to cease “open hell hell” that is lived in both Gaza and the West Bank. The president has defended that the petition to Brussels is “a measure proportional to the humanitarian catastrophe” and has asked their counterparts to immediately apply the suspension of the agreement with Israel, after the report of the UN Special Human Rights Rapporteur report, in which it describes the situation as a “genocide catastrophe”.
Sanchez recalled that article 2 of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel expressly establishes the need to respect human rights and has warned that Europe cannot have a double standard: “What makes no sense is that we carry 18 packages of sanctions to Russia for its aggression to Ukraine and Europe, in a double standard, it is not able to suspend an association agreement when article of respect for human rights ”.
The European Council, according to the Spanish President, has taken note of the European report in which it is pointed out to Israel could be breaking its obligations in terms of human rights and will be in July when the Foreign Ministers of the twenty -seven debate the possibility of applying concrete measures. According to Sánchez, it is not a symbolic issue but about adopting real decisions. “The suspension of the agreement with Israel is a measure proportional to the humanitarian catastrophe that is lived in Palestine and the West Bank,” he said before stressing that European leaders have “the obligation and moral duty to save lives.” He has also reiterated that the solution of the two states is the only possible way to resolve the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
Sánchez, in reference to the statement that has led Spain to convene number two of the Israeli embassy in Madrid -israel does not have an ambassador since May-, has also stressed that it is not true that the government has not condemned Hamas’s attacks or that it has demanded the release of Israelis hostages. “We have done it from the first day, but with the same determination that we have demanded from Hamas this liberation and the condemnation of those terrorist attacks,” he added.
Without “blind follow” by NATO
In his appearance, Sanchez has also addressed the agreement approved on Wednesday in the NATO Summit in The Hague to raise the military expense of 5% of the national GDP. The president of the Spanish Government has reiterated his commitment to the Atlantic Alliance, but has made it clear that he does not share the unprecedented proposal of the president of the United States, Donald Trump, nor his criticisms that Spain rejects to assume the same level of military spending as other allies, threatening with the imposition of tariffs greater than Spanish products such as retaliation.
“Being Europeanist and Atlantist does not imply blind follow -up, as others propose in our country,” said Sanchez in reference to Declarations of the President of the Popular Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. As indicated by the President, Spain will continue to fulfill all its obligations as an ally, with the deployment of troops in international missions and reinforce the architecture of European security, without the viability of public services must be put at risk. In addition, he has denied that his position is generating discomfort among the partners of the European Union: “I have not received any comments against,” he said.
The president of the Government has also answered, although it has passed over, to the questions about corruption cases that dot his party. Specifically, he has been asked if he would maintain his promise to opt for re -election in 2027 if new names linked to plots such as the Koldo case were known. Sánchez has avoided entering hypothesis: “I can’t pronounce on futures.” Of course, he has defended that he has always acted firmly when internal cases have arisen, as opposed to the attitude shown by the opposition. “Hopefully others did the same,” he said.
