The profound differences within the coalition government regarding NATO and the security and defense policy have been made evident in Congress, where United We Can has challenged Pedro Sánchez by voting against “the results” of the Summit of the Alliance in Madrid and the commitment to increase military spending in the coming years.
This vote has been caused by a motion presented by the PP on Spain’s foreign policy which, although it has no legal consequences, does have the value of being a political declaration.
And at what time. Because the episode is a first warning from United We Can to the PSOE in the face of the difficult internal negotiation with the purples to endorse in the Council of Ministers, first, and then in Congress, the change in the bilateral agreement with the US to increase the number of destroyers at the Rota Naval Base (Cádiz). And also about the negotiation that will also have to be addressed in the coming months to translate into the General State Budgets the word given by Sánchez to the rest of the Atlantic allies to increase investment in Defense with the aim of reaching 2% of GDP in 2029.
United We Can has voted differently from the PSOE in 14 of the 15 points of the PP motion, and on crucial security issues it has done so by expressing an antagonistic position to that of the majority partner of the Executive. Along these lines, one of the purple ministers, Alberto Garzón, has also expressed himself. He was the only one of that faction who was in Congress at that time. Thus, the PSOE has been able to certify that on Defense issues, and starting with the ministers, the coalition is fractured. Therefore, you will need to have the PP to get ahead.
While the socialist sector of the Government shows its satisfaction with the development of the NATO summit in Madrid and praises the organization, United We Can has voted against “supporting” its “results” and trusting that these will serve to face future challenges with guarantees. Similarly, he has refused “to promote that the new strategic concept [of NATO] includes the guarantee of protection of the entire national territory with particular attention to non-peninsular territories.”
The purples have repudiated supporting NATO missions and reinforcing the Spanish presence in all collective security schemes. They have also refused to place Russia as a threat such as jihadism or the destabilization of the Sahel.
PSOE and United We Can have also been divided when addressing future defense spending. The purples reject “guaranteeing adequate financing for national defense reaching 2% of GDP before 2030”, which is one of the main commitments made by Sánchez with NATO members.
There were several points in the motion referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In one of them, the PP asked “to continue increasing military support” to the Ukrainians in order to have the capacity to “repel aggression” from Russia. The PSOE has voted in favor but United We Can has said “no”. Then he has refrained from “recognizing the role” of Zelensky “at the head of Ukraine and his defense of the independence and territorial integrity of his nation.”
The PP, which with this motion sought to portray the internal divisions of the Government in a strategic matter of the country, already warned last Tuesday of the consequences that this has for the credibility of Spain. “We need a united, serious, reliable government, at the height of the historical moment. Unfortunately, we do not have that government. The deep division that exists within it and the lack of communication between the internal factions causes stupor abroad and weakens us,” he lamented. During the debate, deputy Pablo Hispán.
In the turn of United We Can, Gerardo Pisarello denounced that joining the “warmongering ardor” of the motion was typical of “arsonists” and opposed NATO with peace. “Neither inflation nor unemployment is going to be solved by seeding Europe with more nuclear warheads or more warships,” he said.
“This summit has been organized basically to reinforce the geostrategic priorities of the United States, which are not Ukraine, which are not Europe, but above all, weaken China,” criticized the deputy from United We Can.
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