Albares defends his decision not to attend the London meeting on Hormuz before the PP in the Senate

Eduardo González Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares defended his decision not to attend the international meeting in London on the situation in the Strait of Hormuz this Tuesday in the Senate, in response to the People’s Group, because, he asserted, the Government is in favor of “de-escalation and negotiation” and will not “do anything that escalates this war.” During the parliamentary session for government oversight in the Senate plenary, José Antonio Monago, of the PP, denounced that the Executive does not have “a state foreign policy,” but rather “a substitute subject to the weakness of the Government, without strategy, without coherence and without credibility, and this has consequences.” “Spain today has problems where it once had allies, it has doubts where it once had confidence, and it is isolated where it once had influence, and we are seeing this very clearly in the Middle East,” he continued. “The United Kingdom has promoted meetings with dozens of countries, and there are our European partners, there are our allies, and there, by the way, is not Spain,” he noted, referring to the international meeting organized last Thursday by the United Kingdom, in which the 40 countries that make up the coalition to unblock the Strait of Hormuz participated. “If we haven't been invited, Mr. Minister, it's because we are irrelevant, and if we were invited and we didn't attend, it's because you are reckless and, moreover, irresponsible,” he warned. “They call on us to find solutions to the Hormuz blockade, and you are nowhere to be found,” he denounced. “You have traded the national interest for the interest of the Government, and the result is that Spain has less weight, Spain has less influence, Spain matters much less,” he added. In his response, Albares again criticized the People's Party (PP) for not condemning "the illegal war" in Iran and "the unacceptable situation in Lebanon," and for not "having a single word of humanity for the people of Gaza." "At this moment, when the entire world, all of humanity, is holding its breath as an ultimatum looms, one that could lead to a military escalation unseen since World War II, the Spanish government is protecting the interests of the Spanish people," he asserted. "I was invited as Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs to the meeting in London, as I am being invited to all of them, and we decided not to attend because we will not do anything that escalates this war. We are focused on de-escalation and negotiation," the minister continued. Ultimatum to Iran Furthermore, Albares warned this Tuesday, during an interview on the La Sexta program 'Al Rojo Vivo,' that the current conflict in Iran could have "very serious consequences for the economy and the environment, and could lead to a major humanitarian crisis." Therefore, according to the minister, Iran must “open the Strait of Hormuz and stop its unjustified bombing of Gulf countries that have done nothing to start this war,” and the United States must refrain from carrying out the ultimatum issued by the US president against Iran’s civilian infrastructure. “Attacking energy or civilian infrastructure is a war crime. International law and the Rome Statute are very clear on this,” he warned. Meanwhile, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke on Monday evening with the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi; the King of Jordan, Abdullah II; and the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. “We all want a prosperous and peaceful Middle East,” he wrote on social media. “An escalation of the conflict will represent a devastating global setback,” he warned. “Spain demands an immediate end to this war,” he insisted.

Related Content

History of ‘Scarface’, a Nazi high command in Franco's Spain

Peter Paul Rubens: spy and ambassador just for the love of art

British Cemetery in Madrid: the final resting place for “heretic” diplomats

Rubén Darío, Nicaragua’s Ambassador to the Spain of Alfonso XIII

History of Piotr Potemkin and the first Russian embassy in Spanish history