Defense Minister Margarita Robles assured this Saturday that Spain “does not share” and is positioned “against” the US decision to send cluster bombs to the Ukrainian army.
“Spain, based on the firm commitment it has with Ukraine, also has a firm commitment that certain weapons and bombs cannot be delivered under any circumstances,” Robles said in statements to the media after distributing electoral propaganda in the capital along with the secretary General of the PSOE of Madrid, Juan Lobato.
Questioned by the controversial shipment, since it is a decision that clashes with the warnings of the United Nations and that contravenes an international convention that prohibits the use of this type of weapon, the head of Defense has underlined the “clear and resounding” position of Spain against this action. This type of bomb is prohibited in more than a hundred countries, including Spain, although the US, Russia and Ukraine have not done so.
Robles, who has pointed out that sending these bombs is the decision of the United States and not of NATO, has insisted on the “total and absolute” support of the Government of Spain for Ukraine, but has defended that in “legitimate defense uses bombs such as cluster bombs”. “No to cluster bombs and yes to the legitimate defense of Ukraine, which we understand is not carried out with cluster bombs”, he has sentenced.
US President Joe Biden has justified his “difficult” but necessary decision because “the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition.” The president stressed that it is not a permanent decision, but that it will be in force while the United States ensures a sufficient supply of 155-millimeter artillery, widely used by NATO systems.
The minister, number four on the PSOE list for the Madrid Congress, has also focused on the upcoming elections on 23-J. Robles has called in a previous campaign act “not to be fooled” by a Popular Party and its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who propose a “summer of the past” in the general elections on July 23.
“Voting for Feijóo is voting for Vox,” Robles warned in statements to the media at a PSOE event in Madrid, where he asserted that the socialists want the Spanish “a summer of progress and solidarity” and not one ” of a television series that does not correspond to reality”, in reference to the ‘Blue Summer’ campaign of the ‘popular’.
In this sense, he has asked the leader of the PP to “be brave” and “not deceive the citizens”. “He has to say loud and clear that voting for the PP is voting for Vox. And voting for Vox we all know what it means”, he has warned, to warn of “setbacks” for women, young people or pensioners.
The number four on the PSOE list for Congress for Madrid has also criticized the PP for “disqualifying its own people”, as previously the former leader, Pablo Casado, and now by “disavowing” its candidate and future president of Extremadura, María Guardiola, for “saying loud and clear what Vox was”.
“Mr. Feijóo, do not deceive the citizens anymore, be transparent,” Robles has cried, who has also urged Vox to respond with a “resounding no” at the polls because the party “wants to lead Spain back into darkness.”
“Vox represents the Spain of the past, the darkest Spain,” he warned, referring to the political program presented by the group led by Santiago Abascal, which he considers “very terrible.”
In this context, he has ruled that he does not want “neither Vox nor a PP that is untrue” and has vindicated the socialist proposal of “dialogue, tolerance and solidarity” and his management during the five years in government.
Robles has especially highlighted the international role of Spain during the Executive of Pedro Sánchez against a Feijóo “when he goes abroad he goes through the back door” and to “disqualify Spain”.
“I want to feel proud of my country, of Spain, and this government has given Spain a very important international role,” she declared, pointing out that the “best way” to prepare the debates in which Sánchez will participate is to make Spaniards are aware that they have had a government that, despite “mistakes”, “has thought of Spain, of the Spaniards and of those who most needed it”.
“I think that this is the best and Feijóo will never be able to say that because even in difficult times like the pandemic we have missed his support for the Government of Spain,” he concluded.
