Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has stated that the Spanish government is not afraid of ‘anything’ that US President Donald Trump might do to carry out his threats to impose a trade embargo on Spain for not collaborating with the US in the war in Iran, after he repeated his threats yesterday. Albares downplayed these threats by pointing out, in an interview on TVE, that the US ‘makes many comments’ about many countries and some presidents, and he is clear that ‘nothing would lead to action against Spain,’ recalling that the EU’s trade policy is a common policy and that Brussels has the authority.
In any case, he pointed out that the relationship with Washington is ‘mutually beneficial’ and that the government is working to ensure that it remains so. Albares said that France has not asked him to participate in an operation to protect the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global energy trade that is threatened by Iran.
The minister understands, as he pointed out, that ‘the minimum conditions are not in place’ to be able to carry it out, although, in any case, he affirmed that Spain’s position has been clear since this war broke out two weeks ago: it will not intervene in anything that reinforces this conflict, ‘which will lead to chaos’.
Regarding yesterday’s dismissal of Spain’s ambassador to Israel and the decision to leave the chargé d’affaires in charge of the legation, he insisted that since the ambassador was called back for consultations “sine die” more than six months ago, Spain has tried to maintain ‘the best possible relations’ with Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, despite its ‘insults and slander’. As this willingness has not been reciprocated, he explained, Spain has decided to downgrade the representation of the Embassy in Tel Aviv to ‘exactly the same level’ as Israel’s in Madrid.
On the other hand, the minister spoke on Thursday with his Lebanese counterpart, Youssef Raggi, to convey his support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, which is under constant bombardment by the Israeli army: ‘Lebanon deserves a future of stability, peace and prosperity’.
He called on Israel and Hezbollah to stop their attacks, stressing that ‘the Lebanese people cannot be held hostage to an external conflict’.
Albares reported on this conversation via social media, as he did on his conversation with Oman’s Foreign Minister, Badr Albusaidi, whom he thanked for his country’s support in the evacuation of Spanish nationals from Muscat. And Spain’s deputy prime minister on Thursday accused European leaders of showing subservience to US President Donald Trump and sharply criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s response to escalating global conflicts. Speaking to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, Yolanda Diaz said Europe has failed to defend international law as wars intensify in Gaza and the Middle East.
“It is an infamy that many heads of state remain silent,” Diaz said. “We are seeing a genocide in Gaza, we are seeing Trump do whatever he wants, and now another illegitimate and illegal war – and no one says anything.” Diaz directed particular criticism at von der Leyen, calling her recent foreign policy stance “indecent” and accusing the European Commission of failing to act at a moment of mounting international instability.
“You cannot say that international legality does not matter. A democrat cannot say that, and even less the president of the European Commission,” she said, referring to von der Leyen’s speech to ambassadors earlier this week in which she called on Europe to adopt a more realistic foreign policy. She said Trump has made it clear that the EU only “gets in his way” and that he aims to “eliminate this strong actor in the world.”