Spain insists that the significant increase in Defense that will be necessary in the coming years be financed at the European level. The main effort should not fall on national budgets, meaning that the Government should not have to approve increases in this allocation, something that would be very complicated given that Sumar has already made clear its opposition to this possibility. Directly linked to this, the Government is already proposing to take a firm step towards the creation of a European army.
"We have to mobilize sufficient financial resources that are European and that do not solely rely on national budgets because the threat is European and therefore the response must be European," defended the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, before participating in the Council of Foreign Affairs of the European Union that is taking place in Brussels this Monday.
This stance was already advanced by the President himself, Pedro Sánchez, who called for "joint tools," and also by the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, who directly hinted at the possibility of issuing European debt. All of this is being studied, but in Brussels, it is also clear that countries themselves will have to make efforts, and specifically Spain "has to do more."
Regarding the second proposal, Albares has indicated that he will request the Council to reflect "on how Europe should increase its security capabilities." "Capabilities that must include the ability to have rapid deployment forces that could be the embryo, even, of a European army that we have often talked about," he pointed out.
The Foreign Minister was also asked about the outcome of the German elections, and in his response, he took the opportunity to criticize the PP and its pacts with Vox. "I am glad to see that the main German forces, including the party in the European People's Party, which is the CDU, are very clear: with Europe and with democracy against the far right. The Spanish People's Party has always taken the opposite option," he noted.
Additionally, he highlighted that the "German social democracy will be part of the new Government" and ignoring that Olaf Scholz's party was the big loser of the elections: it barely achieved 16% of the votes, its worst historical result.
Regarding the situation in the Middle East, Albares once again called for "effective measures to protect the two-State solution and the existence, as soon as possible, of a realistic and viable Palestinian State." "Gaza is the land of the Gazans and must be part of the future Palestinian State," he emphasized.