Albares says that he has "no problem" in appearing in Congress as requested by the PP

The minister assures that there is unity in the EU in condemning the "terrorist attack" by Hamas and Israel's right to defend itself

MADRID, 10 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has assured that he has "no problem" in appearing before the Congress of Deputies as requested by the PP to explain the Government's position regarding the "terrorist attack." " perpetrated by Hamas against Israel.

"I have no problem explaining both the situation on the ground and Spain's position on the matter, which is known and public," the minister said in statements to Europa Press, emphasizing that "it is a matter for the political groups and the Congressional table".

Proof of this, he added, is that he has carried out a round of contacts with the spokespersons of the parliamentary groups and the first one he called was the PP spokesperson, Cuca Gamarra, to whom he said he had "transmitted all the information." Likewise, he has assured that the spokespersons can contact him whenever they need to on his mobile phone.

This Tuesday, the PP registered in Congress a request for Albares to appear in plenary, given that the commissions have not yet been established, so that he "explain the assessment of the terrorist attack that Israel has suffered, the situation in that the Spaniards find themselves in the region, the lines of action that the acting Government will take and how this conflict affects our foreign policy.

Albares participated this afternoon in an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers in which, as he explained, there was "a united European voice in condemning the terrorist attack by Hamas against Israel." "We have also all been united in defending Israel's right to defend itself," he added.

In his case, he has placed special emphasis on the need to "be united in trying to reduce the escalation of violence that is currently occurring and ensure that this number of civilian victims does not continue." So far, more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed in the Hamas attack and more than 800 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip in Israeli bombings.

Likewise, added the minister, who was the first to speak given that Spain holds the current presidency of the Council of the EU, we must "do everything possible so that the conflict does not spread regionally", especially to the West Bank and Lebanon, "an already very weak and very fragile country" in which Spain also has 'blue helmets' deployed, and who could "be the next victims of this spiral of violence."

On the other hand, the head of diplomacy has called for "coordination at European level" in relation to people, both European and non-European, "who are held against their will, be released as soon as possible." It is believed that Hamas could be holding more than a hundred hostages after Saturday's assault.

In this sense, he has once again avoided going into more details about this coordination or about the case of the two Spaniards who have been "affected" by the Hamas attack and about whom there has been no news since Saturday. "I'm not going to give much information, we are talking about the safety and lives of many people," he limited himself to saying.