Albares: "Palestinians should not be condemned to be a people of refugees, they have the right to a State"

Ratifies that Spain will not veto the EU mission in the Red Sea and insists that it cannot be involved in all operations

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has defended the need for the recognition of a Palestinian State because the Palestinians "should not be condemned to being a people of refugees" and has considered that the only thing that is needed to This is "political courage."

"The hope of the Palestinian people is called a Palestinian State," which "is closely intertwined with the security of the State of Israel," he maintained during his participation in a breakfast organized by the New Economy Forum.

"The Palestinians, and I will never resign myself to this, should not be condemned to be permanently a people of refugees, they have the right to a viable, realistic State in which they can live in peace and security in the same way as the Palestinian people. Israeli (...) has the right to live in peace and security within a State of Israel neighboring a Palestinian State."

In the minister's opinion, this is what is needed so that "this time is the last time we see this explosion of violence." According to Albares, "the maps are drawn, they have been agreed upon" by the parties in the past but "the political will, the political courage, is lacking" to materialize it.

Regarding the genocide lawsuit presented by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the minister has defended once again that we must wait for it to rule on whether it is competent and whether to issue precautionary measures. "We are going to wait for them to speak out and then Spain will speak clearly," he promised.

In any case, he has reiterated the Government's support for both the ICJ and the International Criminal Court (ICC), which in the last two years has translated into a voluntary contribution of 5 million euros for its operation and has announced that it will to advance another more than 500,000 euros.

On the other hand, he has once again defended Spain's non-participation in any mission in the Red Sea to protect international shipping from Houthi attacks. "Spain makes its decisions sovereignly and I believe that Spain's commitment to global peace and security is beyond any doubt," she stressed, recalling that she has 3,000 soldiers deployed in different peace missions.

"Spain does not have to participate in all the missions and in all those of the coalitions that exist," he stressed, while ratifying that when the Twenty-seven discuss on Monday the new European mission in the Red Sea "Spain certainly does not leave to oppose."

Likewise, he has ruled out that the refusal to participate in the mission proposed by the United States has affected the bilateral relationship in any way. In this sense, he has assured that he has a "magnificent relationship" with the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and today he will have lunch with the former first lady and head of US diplomacy Hillary Clinton.

Continuing with the United States, Albares has avoided commenting on the eventual victory of Donald Trump in next November's elections. However, he has stressed the close relationship with the Biden Administration and the shared agenda in defense of multilateralism, equality and diversity. "An agenda that we would not like to see changed by the United States," he noted. "That is the United States that we feel comfortable with and that we would like to continue seeing," he stated.

SÁNCHEZ WILL NOT BE A CANDIDATE FOR NATO

In another vein, he has guaranteed that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, whom he said he knows "very well", "is not going to be a candidate to be Secretary General of NATO."

"The President of the Government is fully involved in directing the Government of Spain during the four years of the legislature and that is where the President will be," he stressed, given speculation that Sánchez could choose to succeed Jens Stoltenberg at the helm. of the Atlantic Alliance.

Regarding Latin America, he has confirmed a first contact with the new government of Javier Milei in Argentina. According to him, during his participation in the Davos Forum last week he had the opportunity to speak "for a few minutes" with his new counterpart, Diana Mondino.

The minister, who has indicated that for now there is "no request for a visit" by Milei to Spain, also wanted to make it clear at this point that the Government has wished "success to Argentina and the Argentine people in this new stage." and has guaranteed both companies and Spaniards in this country that "they will always find the government of Spain at their side."