Feijóo defends before Von der Leyen that Spain meets "the milestones" agreed with Brussels in order to receive the funds

Hold bilaterals with a dozen EPP leaders, including the Greek Prime Minister, on the sidelines of the Rotterdam Congress

"Our colleagues do not understand that the Sánchez government has parties that do not believe in the nation and want to divide it as allies"

ROTTERDAM, 31 May. (From the special envoy of Europa Press, Marisa Piqueras) -

The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, assured this Tuesday before the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, that Spain must meet "the milestones" committed to with Brussels in order to receive European funds, money that the country "needs " so that it does not stay in the "tail car" of Europe, according to what 'popular' sources have informed Europa Press.

This has been transferred in a "cordial" interview of more than half an hour that both have held in Rotterdam, within the framework of the Congress of the European People's Party (EPP) in which the German Manfred Weber has been elected as the new president of the formation. (with 89% of the votes), replacing the Polish Donald Tusk.

Feijóo has held more than a dozen bilateral meetings, starting with Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Ajanuch, whose party, the National Association of Independents (RNI), is an associate member of the EPP. They were followed by meetings with other European leaders, such as the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In his "institutional" meeting with Von der Leyen --at 7:00 p.m. given that the President of the Commission has traveled to Rotterdam after finishing the European Council in Brussels--, Feijóo explained that "Spain "has to comply with what is has compromised and Europe too".

For her part, the president of the European Commission has told the leader of the PP that they will be "strict in demanding compliance with the agreed milestones to proceed with the disbursements linked to them," the same sources have reported.

Both leaders "have fully agreed to defend European funds, as well as compliance with the plan and the milestones agreed by Spain in the Next Generation Funds Plan to guarantee disbursements to our country," added 'popular' sources .

After regretting that the main opposition party, which is a "state party", was not informed, he criticized the delay in the execution of the funds, which have already accumulated a delay of two years. In addition, he hopes that the Government will comply between now and 2026 because "Spain needs these funds" and "these milestones bind us", the same sources have indicated.

Other 'popular' sources present at the meeting have emphasized that it is about maintaining the "rules of the game" and "meeting the agreed milestones" because Spain "needs those European funds" because if it does not, it stays in the " caboose" of the EU.

"What we are proposing as a country is that Spain must fulfill what it has promised," 'popular' sources have pointed out, while the president of the European Commission has guaranteed that the funds will not be released if "the milestones ", sources from the Feijóo team have insisted.

In addition, they have pointed out that the PP "commits to comply if it reaches the Moncloa Palace" because they are the "alternative" and cannot send the message that they are not linked to the reforms and objectives agreed with Brussels to receive European funds.

Precisely, upon his arrival at the EPP conclave in Rotterdam, Feijóo defended before the media that they are prepared to be the alternative "to the weakest government" that Spain has had in the 44 years of democracy". "Spain is much more than the Government of Sánchez", he has proclaimed.

The head of the opposition has said that his intention with the bilateral meetings was to convey a message of calm to his partners in the face of "the shadows that surround Spanish politics, the shocks of its foreign policy or the lack of commitment of half of the Government with the European institutions". "The objective of the PP is to guarantee political alternation and the political alternative in Spain", he assured.

Feijóo has criticized that the Government has "runaway" the increase in prices "increasingly" and has pointed out that it has a public debt "that is mortgaging the economy and that prevents medium and low incomes from reaching the end of the month".

That said, he has defended incorporating Spain into pro-European policies, "useful policies, healthy economic growth, compliance with commitments to the rules of the Union and strengthening the euro and the European economy".

Finally, he stressed that European leaders are concerned about "an unprecedented government, with a populist party, which is based and sustained by independence". "Our colleagues do not understand how the government of a nation can have as allies parties that do not believe in the nation and that want to fracture and divide it," he stressed.