Eduardo González
The Council of Ministers yesterday approved the awarding of the Collar of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III to UN Secretary General António Guterres for his “defense of democracy, multilateralism and human rights.”
The Collar of the Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III is the highest civilian decoration in Spain. Its purpose is to reward citizens who through their efforts, initiatives and works have rendered eminent and extraordinary services to Spain and is reserved for members of the Royal Family, heads of State and Government and Spanish citizens who are in possession of the Grand Cross with more than three years of seniority.
“António Guterres has shone in his defense for democracy, multilateralism and human rights, always maintaining his commitment to the international order based on rules and respect for international law, as has been especially evident in his actions and statements as Secretary General of the United Nations in recent weeks in the Gaza crisis, in defense of International Law, International Humanitarian Law and the human rights of the Palestinian civilian population,” said the spokesperson of the acting Government, Isabel Rodríguez, during the press conference following the Council of Ministers.
Last October 24, Antonio Guterres warned before the UN Security Council that “Hamas attacks do not come from nowhere” and that “the Palestinians have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating illegal occupation”. In response to these statements, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen charged against him and called for his resignation, and Israel’s ambassador to the UN accused Guterres of having lost all morality and impartiality, as well as condoning terrorism.
A day later, the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, joined Guterres’ voice in Brussels for a humanitarian ceasefire and conveyed his “affection and support” to the UN Secretary General. “I believe that what he is doing is raising the voice of a broad majority of societies in the world that want a humanitarian pause,” he said.
Following the controversy created, António Guterres declared that he was “astonished by the misrepresentations” that “some” had made of his words and recalled that in his statements on Tuesday he had “unequivocally condemned the horrific and unprecedented acts of terror by Hamas in Israel,” and that “nothing can justify the deliberate killing, the kidnapping of civilians or the firing of rockets against civilian targets.” He also affirmed, without retracting his words before the Assembly, that “the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the atrocious attacks by Hamas”.
António Guterres, born in Lisbon in 1949, was Prime Minister of Portugal between 1995 and 2002, a period “during which he strengthened ties with Spain and made important contributions to the process of European construction”, declared the Government spokeswoman. He also served as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015 and took office as secretary-general of the United Nations on January 1, 2017. Guterres was also vice-president of the Socialist International from 1992 to 1999 and president from 1999 to mid-2005.
