Sánchez affirms that Europe faces an "existential dilemma" between progress and the extreme right

Reclaims socialist principles in the face of a "complex and uncertain" future with the European elections in the background

MADRID, 9 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, stated this Saturday that Europe faces "an existential dilemma" between being an example of progress or allowing itself to be carried away by the hatred of the extreme right.

"Do we want a Europe that serves as a beacon to inspire the world with its example of integration and progress? Or do we want a Europe that hides behind the trenches?" he asked during his speech at the congress of the Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SP) held in Berlin.

Sánchez has focused on the need for a Europe that is increasingly united and, at the same time, increasingly open, that looks forward and without nostalgia for the achievements already achieved, while he has identified the traditional right, influenced by the extreme right, as imbued by the virus of hate and this "can be lethal" for democracy.

The President of the Spanish Executive has staged "a global battle" between equality, represented by feminism, or the privilege of sexism; between social justice and inequality; between respect for human rights or the barbarity of war; between democratic respect and the populist insult of extremists.

"That is what is at risk, here and right now," observed Sánchez, who stressed: "We need a united and open Europe, with a vision of the future and that does not kneel before the elites."

Sánchez has vindicated the principles of social democracy in the face of a "complex and uncertain" future and in which the 2024 European elections are already looming.

He has also pointed out as challenges to technology, which has transformed our lives at levels that "we do not fully understand", climate change, which "threatens the future of our planets", in addition to the pandemic and the war conflicts that devastate Ukraine and the East. Half.

In that sense, he has pointed out that inequality "is a corrosive force against coexistence and peace" and that education is "the best investment that a society can make."

"Either we face all this enormous transformation, climate change, digital transformation with social justice, or prosperity will decline: either Europe advances or Europe falls," the President of the Government stressed.

Linked to this, Sánchez has stressed to his German colleagues that the best way to guarantee progress is to continue defending the principles of the socialist political family, that is, social democracy: "We are here to promote a future with more social justice; with more rights and freedoms, and with more democracy.

In that context, he has insisted that socialists must convey a message of hope, especially to the younger generation, and that the welfare state remains, as it originally was, a tool against the return of fascism.

The Spanish president ended his speech by expressing his support for his German counterpart, Chancellor Olaf Scholz - with whom he met before speaking at the congress - with his sights set on next year's European elections, at which time the Unity and socialist values ​​will be key, according to Sánchez.

Finally, Sánchez recalled the figure of Jorge Semprún, socialist minister in the 80s and survivor of the world war at the Buchenwald camp, as a link between the socialism of both countries, as he came to applaud with admiration, in the words of Sánchez, the human mentality and the extraordinary civil courage of the German country.