The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assumed the public account of the Spanish position in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, after several days of ups and downs, which, the government acknowledges, have been able to unsettle public opinion. So much the announcement that Spain was bringing forward the departure of a frigate of the Navy to the Black Sea, in a context of absolute uncertainty, such as the angry reaction of United We Can and its resurrection of the “No to war”. This is how El Periódico de España collects it.
Government sources admitted on Tuesday that, although the situation in the area is “worrying”, with just over 100,000 Russian soldiers deployed for a possible invasion of Ukraine, “It cannot” be conveyed to citizens that Europe and Spain are at the gates of an armed conflict. Because, they explain, it is a process with several phases. The first, the one that is being experienced right now, that of dialogue and diplomacy. The second, if this stage does not work, is the economic sanctions of the EU on Russia.
In recent days, the Executive has been carrying out an explanatory exercise to reduce the fear of the Spanish, which has been able to skyrocket since last week, and the appearance of the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, in Congress, is framed for this purpose. who also asked the political groups to avoid “confusing” and “distressing” citizens with the possibility of war.
Unit in Moncloa
Moncloa has delegated the entire political response to the crisis to the Foreign Ministry and, from this Ministry the message has been unified. First it was necessary that cease the internal confrontation between the coalition partners, something that was achieved thanks to the contacts maintained between the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, and, on another level, between the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, and the Minister of Social Rights and leader of Podemos, Ione Belarra.
At the gates of the beginning of the electoral campaign in Castilla y León, United We Can amplified its rejection of a greater involvement of Spain in the NATO, taking advantage of Margarita Robles’s announcement of the departure of the frigate and the upcoming participation of fighters in an aerial policing mission in Bulgaria, two actions that were previously committed. Executive sources acknowledged on Tuesday that the way in which the Defense Minister made these two circumstances public was not the most appropriate.
bet on diplomacy
The government spokesperson, Elizabeth Rodriguez, stressed that Spain “is a country of peace” and Minister Bolaños who “we all bet on diplomacy, we are all in avoiding the conflict and we are all (…) in the no to war”. The obvious consequence that this new fire between the PSOE and United We Can is suffocated is that there was no criticism from the purple spokesman to the Minister of Exteriors during his appearance.
With this matter deactivated for the time being, Albares concentrated his efforts yesterday on demanding the unity of the political groups, in line with the cohesion of NATO and the European Union. He explained that the Spanish position is governed “by the 4 Ds: diplomacy, de-escalation, relaxation and dissuasion.” An idea that he repeated on Tuesday constantly, in different formulations. In this sense, he strongly questioned that the PP deputy, Valentina Martínez, alluded to a possible sending of troops to Spain because “we are not in that scenario, nobody is proposing it.” “Do not try to confuse the Spanish” or “foster their anguish” because the government’s position is that “dialogue prevails.” “The war scenario is not on the table and it is what we want to avoid,” he stressed.
This is a reproach that he also made to other political groups. To Vox he claimed the “importance” of “not transferring” citizens who “we are placing ourselves” in an “irremediable” armed conflict. To other parties such as ERC, which called for the withdrawal of the military troops that our country has in the area from NATO missions, he explained that they are “peaceful” and that “Spain has been participating for years” in them. This is a topic he returned to several times. “The Spaniards cannot be unjustifiably alarmed,” he repeated. “Nothing is done that was not planned.” “We are not in a theater of war“.