<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>This Thursday, thanks to the votes of the PSOE and the PP, the Congress rejected a motion by the Nationalist Front (BNG), supported by Sumar, urging the government to reject the fund proposed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for defense spending and arms purchases and to "renounce the Spanish State's participation in NATO."</strong></h4> The motion, regarding "the position of the Spanish government regarding the interventionist, warmongering, annexationist, and ethnic cleansing announcements by the United States of America" and presented by Néstor Rego Candamil, a member of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) and deputy spokesperson for the Mixed Group, was subject to a separate vote on points, of which three were approved. Specifically, the points urge the government to reject "US President Donald Trump's threats to third countries, particularly Panama and Greenland," to condemn "Donald Trump's announcement that he will take control of the Gaza Strip to turn it into a resort, after carrying out ethnic cleansing with the displacement of its entire Palestinian population to third countries, which would constitute a crime against humanity," and to "commit to the path of dialogue and negotiation for peace and to foster a new context of stability and good-neighborly relations in Europe and the world" were approved. During the vote, the People's Party (PP) abstained on the two points related to Trump (the threats to Panama and Greenland and the ethnic cleansing in Gaza), and the far-right Vox party voted against the entire text. However, the votes of the PSOE and the PP prevented the other three points from being passed. These points urged the government to "oppose the proposal spearheaded by the President of the European Commission, Ms. von der Leyen, to establish a fund of €800 billion to be allocated to defense spending and arms purchases," to "renounce any increase in military spending, which would result in a reduction of the resources available for social policies or necessary public investments," and to "renounce the Spanish state's participation in NATO, abandoning this military alliance and demanding its dissolution." These three points were supported by the Plurinational Parliamentary Group Sumar, the government's minority partner. The party led by Second Vice President Yolanda Díaz had already announced in advance that it would vote en bloc in favor of the six points presented by the BNG, something that, it warned, would not pose any conflict because, ultimately, it is not a binding text. <h5><strong>Rejection of parliamentary approval of military spending</strong></h5> Furthermore, Vox's abstention prevented the passage of a PP motion urging the government to submit any decision related to military spending and the war in Ukraine to Congress for approval, a motion opposed by the PSOE and Sumar. The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) had proposed that the text be voted on point by point, but the PP (Spanish People's Party) demanded a block vote, which prevented the approval of other points that would very likely have been passed, such as reaffirming Spain's commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, defending the participation of the EU and Kyiv in the peace negotiations, and urging the strengthening of the transatlantic bond and compliance with NATO commitments.
