The pacts between PP and Vox and the possibility of a shift to the right in Spain that would alter the balance within the EU – because after Italy another of the big four countries would remain in Conservative hands – have arrived in Brussels. First it was Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who was in the municipal capital on Thursday, assuring that none of his colleagues from the European People’s Party (PPE) had expressed any concerns about these agreements, and this Friday it was Pedro Sánchez who said otherwise. According to the Prime Minister, several European heads of state and government – he did not want to say which of them or which ideological current they belong to – told him during these two days in Brussels that they were “dismayed” by the news from Spain about the withdrawal of the Rainbow flag in some PP and Vox governed municipalities and other controversial decisions.
Sánchez recalled that Spain is a pioneer in these matters – it was one of the first countries to legalize gay marriage, which Italy, for example, has not yet done – and explained that it was now surprising in Brussels that the news broke out arrive wrong way . “We see that where the PP governs with the extreme right, there is an obscene incursion into the right. Removing a rainbow flag means depriving it of rights. It’s not just about removing a flag, it’s also about not recognizing some granted rights. It causes redness. “In Brussels, I had discussions with various leaders who are surprised and angry at the turnaround in the debates, where Spain was a model until May 28 and they are now a counter-example,” said the President.
More information
The election campaign therefore shifted to Brussels for a few hours: yesterday with Feijóo and today with Sánchez. And both are trying to take the debate to what is best for them. Feijóo wants to convey the idea that he is a Europeanist leader, leader of a party that is at the heart of the EPP – it is one of the largest and has held the general secretariat for many years – and that by no means is he going to make a decision , which jeopardizes European funds. Meanwhile, Sánchez insists that Brussels will not deliver the money linked to these reforms if Feijóo keeps his word and repeals “sanchismo” (i.e. the most important legal reforms pushed forward in recent years). For this reason, according to the president, Feijóo now supports the labor reform that the PP 2022 tried to overthrow.
The PP leader also knows that things are changing in the EPP and there is no longer the same resistance as before to agreeing with the extreme right, and that is why he insists that nobody in Brussels cares. However, Sánchez believes that this issue complicates the PP campaign the most in Spain, where there is still a lot of opposition to Vox, and therefore insisted on it at the post-summit press conference.
“What we expected happened in Extremadura. We already know that they will rule where they can. And we know that where there is a PP-Vox coalition, that territory will recede. “We all need to take note,” the president said. Sánchez believes this reality will activate left-wing voters who stayed at home in the municipal elections. “A clarification of the political situation is taking place,” he continued. “On 28-M, there was a hypermobilization of the PP and Vox electorate, and the PSOE lost 400,000 votes due to demobilization. After May 28, there are two new pieces of information: first, that if they add up, PP and Vox will rule together; and secondly, that to the left of the PSOE there is now a single project with Yolanda Díaz at the helm and no dispersal. We have two options: a far-right coalition government with PP and Vox, or a progressive government of PSOE and Sumar.” The socialist leader insists on distinguishing his pacts with Unidas Podemos, ERC or EH Bildu from those the PP has with Vox: “It’s one thing to agree to come back on the right and another to move forward on the right,” he decided.
What affects most is what happens closer. Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.
subscribe to
Removing an LGTBI flag from the facade of a public facility is a deprivation of rights.
The obscene reduction of rights in exchange for votes between PP and Vox causes blushes.
In Brussels, they are surprised and dismayed at the regression taking place in some parts of Spain. pic.twitter.com/T5CANXuVb9
— Pedro Sanchez (@sanchezcastejon) June 30, 2023
Sánchez also joked about what Feijóo had said in Brussels the day before, namely that the labor reform that the PP criticized so much seems to him “essentially good”. “Today the PP commemorates the deputy [Alberto] Casero, who fortunately supported us,” laughed the President. “Now Feijóo realizes that it was good labor reform. It is strange that they go from repealing the sanchismo to saying that the sanchista labor reform is good.”
The President also raised the issue of migration, a very sensitive issue in Europe that Vox is flagging up in Spain, although it is not currently a priority of the campaign. The president criticized, without citing, Vox allies such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban and Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki, who blocked the summit’s conclusions for not accepting a paragraph citing cooperation with the countries of origin to make it happen try to stop the migration. “It was an easy mention,” Sánchez summarized. “In the conclusions, we didn’t talk about the internal issue, but the external one, on which there is much more agreement. It is absurd to deny that the best solution to migration is to increase cooperation between transit countries. “In five or six hours, I’m always amazed at the blindness of some who don’t want to include external sight,” he concluded, speaking on this “particularly sensitive” subject. Sánchez justifies the Spanish policy, which thanks to agreements with Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal “has been able to reduce irregular immigration on the western route”.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits