Barcelona (EFE) the Catalan capital to be a place of dialogue between Israel and Palestine.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation has led the conference “Spain and Europe in the face of new geopolitical challenges” at the Cercle d’Economia in Barcelona, within the framework of which he has been asked by one of the attendees about that decision of the mayoress and leader of Barcelona en Comú.
Colau announced last week that Barcelona is temporarily suspending institutional relations with the state of Israel, including the twinning with Tel Aviv, to denounce that it is violating human rights and international law with an “apartheid” system and as a “gesture to invite people to work for the peace”.
Criticism of Colau’s decision on Israel for being “unilateral”
But the Spanish Foreign Minister has criticized that decision, “unilateral and almost personal”, and has instead praised the position of the socialist Jaume Collboni, until a few weeks ago number two in the municipal government and who was present today at the conference, together with the Government delegate in Catalonia, Maria Eugènia Gay.
“The position of the Government of Spain is very clear in terms of committing to a solution to the conflict between the two states”, asserted the minister, who has rejected “all violence, wherever it comes from” and recalled that the vocation of Barcelona is “to be an open city and to be the capital of the Mediterranean”.
Albares has said that he does not believe that “suspending, cutting or expelling anything good is achieved, nor is a dialogue between Israel and Palestine built”; and he recalled that the Union for the Mediterranean, based in the Catalan city, is one of the few scenarios in which both states “sit at the same table.”
A fact that occurs “here in Barcelona… and there are not so many places in the world”, pointed out the minister, for whom “this is a value for the world, for Spain and for Barcelona. And I think that this decision by the mayor damages that value.”
And after praising Tel Aviv as an “open city”, he has warned that he, as minister, will work so that “Barcelona, Spain and Catalonia are as close as possible to Israel and Palestine”, and so that the Catalan capital “is a place of dialogue” and not “one more place, of which there are enough, of division between Israel and Palestine”.
Morocco, Algeria, Western Sahara and Ukraine
On the other hand, Albares has been asked about Spain’s relations with countries such as Morocco and Algeria, regarding which he has stated that the obligation of diplomacy is “to have the best possible relations with neighboring countries with which there are land borders”. .
Regarding Morocco, he has admitted that “after a fairly deep crisis, the relationship is once again at a very high level”, and he has even assured that “having good relations” with that state is “a number one and absolute priority” for Spain. , as well as “mutually beneficial”.
“I think it is indisputable that it is important to have a good relationship with Morocco. The future of Spain and Morocco is inextricably linked. We cannot resign ourselves to the fact that the history of Spanish democracy is that of the crises with Morocco”, he added.
With Algeria, Albares has assured that Spain wants “the same thing” as with all its neighbors and other Arab countries: “A relationship based on friendship, mutual respect, the absence of unilateral actions, non-interference in internal affairs and go hand in hand to build that relationship based on friendship”.
And regarding the future of Western Sahara, he has made it clear that it is a question “clearly situated within the framework of the UN” and “it is not something that Spain is going to decide”. “We have the opportunity to unravel a conflict that has lasted more than half a century and I am not resigned to it lasting another half century”, he has sentenced.
On the other hand, Albares has described the conflict in Ukraine as “the war of a single man” and has warned that “those who have committed crimes in Ukraine cannot go unpunished and must pay for it”, for which Spain is already collaborating with the Attorney General of the International Criminal Court in the collection of evidence.