Sánchez to appear before Congress to report on the war in the Middle East

Eduardo González Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will appear before the full session of the Congress to report on the government's position regarding the conflict in the Middle East, as announced by the Prime Minister himself this Friday, March 6. Meanwhile, the People's Party has called for an immediate parliamentary vote on the deployment of the frigate 'Cristóbal Colón' to Cyprus. "Twenty-three years ago, a Prime Minister (José María Aznar) dragged us into an illegal war, the Iraq War, and it took him ten months to appear before the Congress," recalled Pedro Sánchez during the press conference following the Spanish-Portuguese Summit. “Today I announced my appearance before the Cortes Generales (Spanish Parliament) to report on the position of the Spanish Government, which is precisely the opposite: to not allow Spain to participate in a war that is, by all accounts, illegal,” he added. “Therefore, transparency, accountability. I have said it on many occasions: I am the Prime Minister in the history of democracy who has appeared before the Congress of Deputies the most times, and I will do so again,” he added. On March 4, Sánchez issued an institutional statement on the Middle East crisis generated by the joint Israeli-American offensive against Iran and the forceful response from the Tehran regime, in which he affirmed that the Executive's position “can be summarized in four words: No to war,” recalling the slogan most frequently used in the days leading up to the 2003 Iraq War, launched by then-US President George W. Bush and which received the full support of the Spanish government of José María Aznar (PP). At Friday's press conference, Sánchez reiterated these arguments. "I have enormous respect for the US Presidency and enormous admiration for American society," but, "from there, I believe the position of the Spanish Government is clear," he stated. This war "is clearly outside the bounds of international law" and is "an extraordinary mistake that we are going to pay for, and in fact, we are already paying the price in the form of higher oil and gas prices, and let's not forget, of course, the number of victims," he added. The bases and the frigate Following the outbreak of the conflict, Spain has denied the United States the use of its military bases in Rota and Morón, arguing that the Defense Cooperation Agreement, which governs bilateral military cooperation, stipulates that their use by Washington for operations not covered by the bilateral agreement requires Spain's approval. This stance has outraged US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to "cut off all trade" with Spain. Amid this controversy, the Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday the deployment of the frigate 'Cristóbal Colón' and the supply ship 'Cantabria' to Cyprus to contribute to deterrence and security in the face of attacks on the British base in this country, an EU member but not a NATO member, by Iran and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. To defend this decision, which could contradict Spain's position on the conflict, Defense Minister Margarita Robles warned that it is a mission of "protection and possible evacuation," while the US objective was to launch an "attack from Spanish bases." In this regard, Pedro Sánchez asserted this Friday that, just as the Government is "consistent" in "defending international law in each and every one of the conflicts ravaging the world," it also aligns "all its decisions with national law." "Therefore, I also want to convey that the decision we have made to lend a hand to Cyprus in a clearly defensive mission, not an offensive one (...), logically conforms to the Organic Law of National Defense, approved by the Spanish Parliament in 2005." "As you know, the frigate 'Cristóbal Colón' will arrive off the Cypriot coast in the coming days to contribute, precisely, to the defense and collective security of a country that, unfortunately, as a consequence of this conflict in the Middle East “The Middle East has suffered an attack on its own soil,” he recalled. “What I find quite surprising is the position of the opposition, both the People's Party and Vox, which is a real mess, because on the one hand we know they are in favor of the war in Iran, but on the other hand they seem to be against us helping a European country that has suffered the consequences of the war they support,” he stated. People's Party In this regard, the leader of the People's Party, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, denounced Sánchez's “lies,” who, “on the day of ‘no to war,’ is sending a warship, in logical compliance with NATO commitments.” For this reason, the People's Party has demanded Pedro Sánchez appear before Congress to explain his position on the Middle East and that the deployment of the frigate 'Cristóbal Colón' to Cyprus be submitted “immediately” to a parliamentary vote, arguing that the National Defense Law requires congressional authorization to send troops. Spanish ships to a “conflict zone.” PP sources cited by the Europa Press news agency point out that Sánchez doesn't even have the support of some of his parliamentary partners for sending the frigate. Indeed, the PP's official account posted a message this Thursday addressed to the government's parliamentary partners: “Good morning, Sumar, Esquerra, EH Bildu, Bloque, Chunta, Compromís and Podemos (…) Have you been told that we've sent an armed frigate to the conflict zone? Or did you find out by watching TV, like everyone else?”

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