Eduardo González
The acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, held a telephone conversation this past Monday with the US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, on the situation in the Middle East and the need to prevent an escalation of the conflict.
“Spoke with Antony J. Blinken about the situation in Gaza and the Middle East,” Albares stated through his official account in the social network X. “We join our efforts to free hostages, prevent conflict escalation and protect civilians, guaranteeing the delivery of humanitarian aid,” he continued. “Spain works for a definitive peace with a two-state solution,” he concluded.
For its part, the US State Department reported that Albares and Blinken had spoken about “Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel” and that the Secretary of State “called for the release of all hostages,” reiterated “US support for Israel’s right to defend itself” and reported on his “continued engagement with regional partners to prevent the spread of conflict.”
Blinken and Albares also discussed ongoing efforts to provide humanitarian aid and confirmed “continued coordination to enable Palestinians in need to have sustained and safe access to aid.” Finally, the Secretary of State “welcomed continued Spanish engagement together with other European allies, particularly as Spain holds the Council of the EU presidency, toward our shared goal of ending Hamas’ violence and protecting civilians.”
The conversation between Albares and Blinken came after the acting minister proposed in Luxembourg, during the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), the convening of an international peace conference in the Middle East in which “the parties and the entire international community are represented” and which would make it possible to reach “a definitive peace through the two-state solution.” Although he did not propose any specific venue, he did assure that, “of course, Spain will always be willing to host such a peace conference”.
Albares denounces the “hoaxes” of “the extreme right”
On the other hand, Albares lamented yesterday in the European Parliament the “hoaxes” launched by “the extreme right” to discredit Spain’s position on the Middle East conflict. “It hurts me to see some Spanish MEPs spreading hoaxes about the position of the Spanish Government,” said Albares during his appearance before the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament to explain the priorities of the Spanish Presidency in foreign policy. “These extreme right-wing techniques should be out of the house of European democracy,” he added, in response to criticism from PP and Ciudadanos.
“The position is very clear: Hamas is a terrorist organization and Israel has the right to defend itself in accordance with International Humanitarian Law,” continued Albares, who recalled that the acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, participated this past weekend in the international conference in Cairo for the de-escalation of the crisis and that he himself has maintained contacts with his counterparts in Israel and Palestine and the rest of the region, as well as with Antony Blinken, to address the conflict.
Likewise, Albares regretted the criticism of the Spanish Government for its absence in the international communiqué of Italy, France, Germany, the United States and other countries on the war between Israel and Hamas. According to the acting minister, the communiqué was issued within the G7 format and Spain does not belong to this group. “It is like telling Biden that he has been left out of an EU Council position,” he warned.
