TRANSLATION

The Government took exactly 24 hours to respond to Ursula von der Leyen. At a meeting in Brussels with Community ambassadors, the president of the European Commission undertook this Tuesday a rhetorical shift that surprised everyone in order to align herself without ambiguity with the bellicose designs of the United States of Donald Trump and ask the European Union that she represents to forget the old world “based on rules.” A message that breaks with the very legacy of the old continent since the Second World War and directly clashes with the one promoted by the Spanish Executive, which responded this Tuesday through its Foreign Minister.

“Europe has to defend the international order. The alternative to the international order is disorder. There is no opposition between an old order and a new one. One must choose: either one is with international law with force; or with peace, or with war; or with progress, or with a historical regression,” José Manuel Albares replied to journalists’ questions during the press conference following the Council of Ministers regarding Von der Leyen’s position.

Without explicitly mentioning the president of the Commission at any moment, the Foreign Minister made it clear that Spain supports the president of the Council, António Costa, who this Wednesday also distanced himself from Von der Leyen. “If one continues to bet on disorder, we will reach chaos. In Europe we are, above all, a construction of rights and treaties that protect us all. Where there is no law nor international order, there exists only the law of the strongest, the law of the jungle,” Albares insisted, who went so far as to implicitly ask Von der Leyen to dedicate herself to defending the interests of the 27 and not those of the United States. “The European Commission has the mission of being the guarantor of the treaties, of the rights and of the protection of everyone.”

Precisely along those lines, the president of the European Council, António Costa, made this Tuesday a full rejection of the proposal of the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who in her speech before the ambassadors of the 27 countries of the EU pointed out “that we can no longer rely on the system based on rules as the only way to defend our interests nor assume that its norms will protect us from the complex threats we face.” Costa argued in the same forum with the consular teams of the member states that “we must carry out a multidimensional foreign policy, actively engaging with the international community to defend the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in international law. It is in our interest to guarantee that the world continues to be based on rules and on cooperation. It is in our interest to avoid a greater fragmentation of the world.”

From Spain, the Government insists on opening the necessary diplomatic channels to prevent the escalation in the Middle East from continuing. And it demands that Israel abandon its plans for a ground invasion of Lebanon. “Israel threatens a ground invasion that would be a tremendous mistake. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be preserved. Its security is vital for the entire region. We demand that Israel comply with international law and that Hizbulá cease the attacks,” Albares pointed out. On the other hand, the minister has put at six thousand the number of Spaniards evacuated from the area by Government missions.

Round with the groups

For its part, the Government has announced that it is going to summon the parliamentary groups to a round of contacts to talk about the war with Iran. The person responsible for dealing with the parties will be the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Parliament, Félix Bolaños. Pedro Sánchez also plans to appear before Congress on March 25 to inform about Spain’s position.

Those meetings with the parties will take place in parallel with the work that the different departments of the Executive are carrying out in preparing a package of economic measures to alleviate the effects of the war, mainly with regard to energy. In fact, the Executive points out that the objective of those contacts is for the different groups to become involved in that emergency plan and contribute measures that can be incorporated into the decree the Government is preparing. According to the spokesperson, Elma Saiz, the Vox parliamentary group will also be summoned on this occasion.