The reaction of the Spanish Government to the words of the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, who this Sunday at noon accused Pedro Sánchez’s wife of being corrupt at the Vox rally, has not been long in coming and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has offered an institutional statement this afternoon to condemn Milei’s “very serious” words, without “precedent in the history” of two countries “united by strong ties of brotherhood.”
At the “most serious moment” in the relations between Spain and Argentina “in their recent history”, Albares stated, the Spanish Government has decided to call its ambassador in Buenos Aires for sine die consultations and also demands “public apologies” from Milei. , which if it does not occur, the minister has warned, they will receive the “appropriate measures.” The Argentine president “should never have abandoned manners and respect,” he lamented, and even less so “in the capital of Spain.”
Faced with this sudden diplomatic crisis, Albares has announced that he will call the Spanish ambassador in Argentina for consultations “sine die” and has recalled that Milei “has been received in good faith” in Spain, where he has participated in a far-right rally. and has had no official agenda. “She has been treated with respect and deference,” said Albares, who has assured that the necessary public resources have been made available to her.
“He has responded to that hospitality and good faith with a frontal attack on our institutions,” Albares lamented in response to Milei’s attitude, to whom he demanded and reminded him of the “mutual respect and non-interference” that prevail in diplomacy. between friendly countries. “It is unacceptable that he insults Spain and the president,” exclaimed the Minister of the Interior, for whom what happened this Sunday “breaks democratic practices and the most basic rules of coexistence” between states.
“I have contacted the parliamentary spokespersons of the different groups and I have received the support of a large majority,” continued the Foreign Minister, who regretted that neither PP nor Vox have spoken out so far. However, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has done so, telling him that he will speak out publicly against Milei’s speech. Shortly after finishing Albares’ intervention, Borrell pointed out on his networks that “attacks against relatives of political leaders have no place in our culture: we condemn and reject them, especially when they come from partners.”
“The Foreign Minister, who did not call us to inform us of the position in the Sahara, Ukraine, Israel or Gibraltar, calls today for the PP to defend Pedro Sánchez from statements by the Argentine president whom the Government accused of taking drugs,” Sources from the main opposition party have come forward.
“We do not participate in the PSOE strategy. They intend for Milei to mobilize the electorate that is no longer convinced by the Government,” these sources continue, recalling that “weeks ago Sánchez should have given explanations of the cases of alleged corruption that affect his Government, his party and his personal environment” and They call for the response that Esteban González Pons, deputy secretary of institutional action of the Feijóo executive, will give tomorrow, in an interview on the radio.
“The PP does politics within the framework of moderation and respect. We do not participate in the discursive hyperbole that some and others try to include. In any case, our job is to oppose the president of Spain, not the president of Argentina,” they conclude from Genoa.
Santiago Abascal has been much harsher, who in his X (Twitter) profile has launched a “what the hell does the president’s wife have to do with the sovereignty and dignity of Spain?” “Diplomatic conflicts open when the sovereignty of the Nation is attacked, not when the alleged corruption of the president’s wife, and therefore of the president, is mentioned,” he stated.
“What a class of people screwed to power. Even if he has a corrupt wife, he gets dirty and takes five days to think about it,” Javier Milei said at the massive Vox rally in the Vistalegre pavilion, alluding to Sánchez and his wife. “He probably needs there to be inequality before the law, so that precisely the problems that women have with justice are ignored,” he had declared the day before in an interview with the Uruguayan newspaper El Observador.
After these words, the PSOE has issued a statement pointing out the “seriousness” of Milei’s accusations, which should provoke “an immediate reaction from all political parties” and, singularly, from the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, which is asked “a clear and forceful condemnation” so that this “hate speech” does not go “unpunished.”
The first vice president and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, had already condemned the Argentine president’s outbursts: “Unacceptable words from Milei. In the face of hatred and insults from the populist right, the Government will remain firm in its convictions and will not tolerate these insults,” she was quick to write on the social network X.
For his part, the Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, has assured that the terminals of the extreme right in Spain are “Vox and the most extremist PP”, which is why he predicts that the formation of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whose party, he recalled, went to Milei’s inauguration, will not condemn Milei’s insults towards Begoña Gómez. “The Ultra International in Madrid shows that the extreme right is the same all over the world: hoaxes, hatred and cuts,” said the minister, who speaks of “a danger for democracy.”
The other member of the government coalition, Sumar, has also criticized Milei’s outburst: “The insult by the far-right Milei is against the Government and against Spain. It is incomprehensible that businessmen are more focused on taking photos with them than on raising salaries and advancing social rights,” the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, wrote on the X network.
And in similar terms, Íñigo Errejón, leader of Más Madrid, has expressed himself, in even harsher terms, against Milei’s meeting with Spanish businessmen yesterday: “The insult by the far-right Milei is against the Spanish Government and against Spain. . It is not a discussion between politicians, but between models of society. “They in the photos with the oligarchy, we in the advancement of workers’ rights.”
