This text belongs to the newsletter The Director’s Bulletin, which is sent every Friday morning. If you want to receive it, sign up here.
Good morning,
There has not been a day this week in which the PSOE and the PP have not given each other a truce with very serious accusations of corruption and nepotism. The moment of greatest tension occurred on Wednesday in the control session of Congress, which is becoming the typical saloon from the Far West movies where the two gunmen challenge each other to face each other in a definitive duel in the sun. The level of confrontation in Spanish politics is surpassing the moments of greatest tension. And there have been quite a few in Spain in recent years. We talked about that on Monday in Madrid and on Wednesday in Barcelona when presenting Enric Juliana’s book, Spain: the pact and the fury. With his usual insight and mischief, our delegate in Madrid summarized the situation like this: “Spanish politics is experiencing a Catalan moment… Catalan moments do not usually end well, but we have to live them.”
And the moment in Catalonia is marked by the 12-J elections, for which on Thursday a CEO survey and Carles Puigdemont’s decision to run as a candidate was released. I have to admit that he had serious doubts about this decision, because if Puigdemont finally fails to be sworn in as president he will remain in the opposition in Catalonia and without his seat in Brussels. It is a brave but risky bet.
But the real war is not the one waged by politicians in Madrid or Barcelona, ??but the real threat that hangs over Europe due to the situation in Russia. Clarifying and forceful was the interview published on Sunday with the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, who stated that “the threat of war is absolute and society is not fully aware.” Her opinion is very similar to that also expressed this week by the Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, in statements to our correspondent in Brussels, Beatriz Navarro. Both European leaders are clear that Ukraine must be supported militarily because if it does not win its contest with Russia, the risk of a third world war is more than evident. They are words that scare and anguish, but they are a reflection of a reality. This week’s European summit has served to raise awareness among all international public opinion in this regard.
The resounding and long-awaited victory of Vladimir Putin this past weekend has only increased the uncertainty regarding any Russian military action in Moldova, under the excuse of the situation in Transnistria, the pro-Russian separatist region. In fact, as I write this newsletter, our digital edition has posted the news of the largest attack launched by Russia on Ukraine so far this year. Three weeks ago, the North Korean government delivered 6,700 containers filled with missiles to Russia. Well-informed sources assure that Kim Jong-Un’s dictatorship has provided more weapons to Vladimir Putin than the EU itself.
European public opinion has always been resistant to any large investment in defense as a natural reaction to the conflicts experienced in the last century. Furthermore, the allocations intended to improve the armies are subtracted from others for social policies and this does not have a good press. On the eve of very momentous European elections in June, the debate on the rearmament and strengthening of the European defense industry is going to be one of the key issues on our agenda.
Happy Friday.
