The former president of the Government Mariano Rajoy reproached the president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, for refusing to send weapons to Ukraine. “Shall we allow the Russians to invade?” He questioned him this Wednesday at the La Toja-Vínculo Atlántico Forum, held in Lisbon (Portugal) and where he spoke together with the former president of Brazil Michel Temer, the former prime minister of Peru Pedro Cateriano and the former Portuguese minister Paulo Portas. Within the framework of the same forum, the Defense Minister, Margarita Robles, stated that Spain and Portugal are two key countries in the European Union and in NATO due to “their firm and unequivocal commitment to peace and democratic values”.
After meeting at the end of January with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Argentine president announced that Argentina and Latin America will not send weapons to Ukraine because he assured that what is most necessary is to stop the hostilities and the loss of life. Rajoy responded to Fernández that the opposite of not helping the Ukrainians is facilitating the continuation of Russia’s aggression. “The top leader of Argentina refuses to supply weapons to the Ukraine. What do we do, do we allow the Russians to invade?” Rajoy wondered.
In addition, the former president of the government advised Ibero-America to reduce trade dependence with China, which “would serve to strengthen liberal democracies” and reduce the “so great” polarization that he sees in the region, noting that the “majority” of the countries of the zone have as their first partner Beijing, which is not guided by democratic principles. “The values ??of liberal democracies are far superior to those that China has or that any of the Latin American governments may have at this time,” he stated. “Everyone trades with whoever they deem appropriate and convenient and, without a doubt, having good trade relations with China is great, but we Europeans would like to have much more trade relations” with Latin America, he said.
Rajoy has maintained that commercial relations “are not only money and commerce, they are also principles”. That is why he wanted to clarify that “the principles of democracy are not the same as those of China.” “With all my respect to China,” he added. “And some trade relations come with democratic clauses. This would serve to reinforce liberal democracies, which are the best system that exists for organizing coexistence, until the contrary is proven,” he continued.
Rajoy has pointed out that among the obstacles to eventual Ibero-American integration in the style of that carried out by the European Union (EU) after two world wars is, on the one hand, “commercial weakness.”
And, on the other, the former president has alluded to the “weakness of the rule of law in part of the region”, which makes it “very difficult” to create a community based on values, because in the EU -he has compared- ” Either you are a liberal democracy or you don’t enter”.
“The great polarization means that foreign policy lurches are the order of the day,” he stated, to ensure that without a stable foreign strategy integration is complicated.
However, Rajoy recalled that the EU in its beginnings consisted of “six countries and now there are 27”. And he has said that he believes that the integration of all the Ibero-American countries at the same time is complicated, but he has trusted that it can be done little by little and has ensured that the countries of the region are much more similar to each other than the European ones. .
“Therefore, will and clear rules of the game are needed, and the first is true democracy, based on rules that everyone abides by,” he considered, warning that as long as there are populist governments in the region it will be “impossible to reach an understanding and less to a process of integration”.
Rajoy has valued the European model of “peace, freedom, democracy and human rights”, although he has called for taking into account that a welfare state such as the one enjoyed by EU countries is not common throughout the planet.
“Let’s know that in the rest of the world there is no free education and healthcare for all or a public pension system, that is something that exists fundamentally in Europe,” he said, dismissing the fact that sometimes people protest because a hospital does not work well.
Margarita Robles spoke after the auditorium observed a minute of silence for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, and for this reason she wanted to “make special mention of the fact that there are many rescue teams, also rescue teams from our two countries, who are there on the front line”. The minister pointed out that these teams are “especially in Turkey, since in Syria it is more difficult, because we have spent many years with a terrible war, a cruel war.” For this reason, she affirmed, “when the world is not capable of ending wars like these, something is wrong.”
“Spain and Portugal are two countries that have a very important presence in the European Union and in NATO, of that transatlantic link that is highlighting the importance of peace,” said Robles, adding that “Spain and Portugal are countries that are having political leadership in Europe” and NATO, and pointed out that she cannot understand Europe “without that leadership of the southern countries.”
“Both in the field of NATO and in the field of the European Union”, Spain and Portugal are united “in a firm and unequivocal commitment to peace and democratic values, because we believe that security and defense and investing in security and defense is to invest in peace and we have carried out many joint peace missions”.
Margarita Robles recalled “the emotion I had two years ago when Spain and Portugal worked hand in hand to rescue the Afghans”, and how “the Spanish plane with the help of the Portuguese military were the last to bring those men and women into the who were fleeing from the Taliban barbarism”.
The minister did not forget the military missions in which Portugal and Spain participate, and highlighted the ‘Atalanta’ mission, to fight against piracy. On the other hand, he underlined “the concern that the two countries have for Africa, the continent that we love so much and to which we feel so close”, since “we feel close in the Atlantic, in the Gulf of Guinea, in our presences coordinated maritime operations, and in supporting countries that fight against terrorism”.
