Sánchez links the agreement with Rabat to the security of Ceuta and Melilla

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  • The President of the Government directly links the change in position on Western Sahara to the future of the two autonomous cities

  • anticipate that “Coming Soon“The European Commission will give the definitive approval to the gas ceiling, which will lower the bill” between 15% and 20%

Pedro Sánchez developed this Wednesday in Congress the idea that the Government has reached an agreement with Morocco, which has meant changing the historical position on the Sahara and supporting the Rabat autonomy plan, to guarantee the security of Ceuta and Melilla. An argument that is not the first time he uses, both in the joint statement signed between the president and Mohamed VI appears the mention in this regard to the “territorial integrity“, but that Sánchez exhibited in his appearance as one of the motivations to redirect relations with the Alaouite kingdom and abandon the historical neutrality over the former Spanish colony.

The Chief Executive traveled last April 7 to Rabat to meet with Mohamed VI and sign the opening of a new stage of relations with Morocco that guarantees the validity of all the agreements between the two countries, including “those that set our borders”. Sánchez explicitly pointed out that the Executive “does not accepts talk of Ceuta and Melilla as occupied cities” because they are “Spanish and European territory” but a “commitment of mutual respect has been established to avoid in our discourse and our political practice everything that offends” the other party, alluding to because Morocco considers the Sahara to be Moroccan territory.

Sánchez defends that it is agreed that there be customs at the border crossings in a commercial expedition regime, so that there is no “atypical trade”

According to the president, the joint statement builds a “guarantee system about our national integrity” because the “sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla is beyond any doubt”. However, he added, “good neighborliness must imply a model of normality that is beneficial for all”. “The two cities cannot live with the pressure of permanent exceptionality. That means normalize the passage of goods and people“.

Sánchez defended that it is agreed that there be customs at the border crossings in a commercial expedition regime, so that there is no “atypical trade“. A commitment that also included in the joint statement and that the Moncloa interprets as a sign of respect for Spanish integrity, because it implies a deeper recognition of the border. In Spanish political and military spheres, the opinion is widespread that if Morocco achieves definitive control of the Sahara, its next claim and identity cause will be Ceuta and melilla. That is why all these precautions in this new phase of relations with Morocco.

Despite the fact that immigration control has traditionally been one of the most important reasons for maintaining cooperation with the neighboring country, along with its help in the persecution of jihadism and drug trafficking, and both countries have agreed to strengthen joint work , Sánchez also linked the migratory phenomenon with the defense of the two autonomous cities. “Spain will not tolerate the instrumentalization of tragedy of irregular migration as a weapon of pressure,” he said in reference to the wave of people that Rabat launched on the shores of Ceuta to get the government to change its position on the Sahara.

This issue, one of the main reasons for the appearance, was dealt with by Sánchez in a superficial manner. Like something that there was no choice but to do. “The (new) Spanish position is aligned with other countries”, he underlined, later listing the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the EU itself. “After many decades of conflict, many countries are acknowledging what is the most realistic position“. “Spain has not disregarded the Saharawi cause” but, he said, it has placed the debate in the search for a way out and a new dialogue. It is about “solving” not a “indeterminate wait“. In his opinion, it would be a way of “giving stability to the region”. In this sense, he asked the groups to join his turn that, has been done, he affirmed in defense of the interests of Spain.

Support for the extension of the anti-crisis package

But before addressing, for the second time in the plenary session of the Chamber in a monographic way, the new framework of relations with Morocco, the president summarized the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council of last May 30 and 31 -informal summit in which agreed on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia—and asked the groups for their “formal” support for the extension of the anti-crisis plan as a result of the war in Ukraine, which will last, for the time being, until September 30. “I sincerely hope that this time the opposition knows how to rise to the occasion and we can continue protecting companies and families against the rise in prices” caused by the conflict, he claimed. The first royal decree law was saved by the minimum thanks to Bildu and was rejected by the PP and ERC.

The limit on gas will have “an important protection effect against future increases in the price of gas in international markets”

The gas price cap mechanism is not yet operational. The ‘Iberian exception’ that was approved by the European Council in March, which the Government has already approved through a royal decree law negotiated with Brussels and which is now pending final ratification by the Commission so that it can enter into vigor. Sanchez assured that “soon very soon” the college of commissioners will approve the instrument, which will mean a reduction of “between 15% and 20%” on the electricity bill and that it will have “an important protective effect against future rises in the price of gas in international markets”.

Once the European Commission gives its final ok, continued the head of the Executive, the mechanism “will automatically take effect after validation of royal decree law that regulates this issue“and that the plenary session of Congress debates precisely this Thursday. Sánchez also asked the groups to support the text. With it, a cap on gas will be established 40 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), a price that will then gradually rise until it reaches, in the twelve months in which it will be operational, around €50/MWh on average.

Sánchez also welcomed the decision of the Twenty-seven to partially restrict imports of Russian oil, which means “closing part of the economic tap that supports the invasion” of Vladimir Putin on Ukraine. He stressed that crimes committed in places like Bucha or Borodyanka are not acceptable and stated that Spain will continue to send military aid. In this regard, he welcomed the Council’s agreement to increase the European peace aid fund by 500 million, which already has a total allocation of €2 billion.

The socialist leader maintained that the new geopolitical scenario pushes the EU to “deepen” in its security and defense policy, and along these lines the NATO summit to be held on June 29 and 30 in Madrid will serve to strengthen ties between the Twenty-seven and the Atlantic Alliance, and its Executive is committed to this.

The division with United We Can

The PP spokeswoman, Cuca Gamarra, began her speech delving into the division of the coalition Executive in foreign policy in the two main topics of the debate. “When she talked about NATO, half of the blue bench did not applaud him. This had never happened in democratic Spain nor does it happen in any European nation & rdquor ;, he made Sánchez ugly about the internal clashes with United We Can. “They have even accused him of prevaricating with the summit contracts & rdquor ;, he continued before recommending to the president that he demand from half of his government the “sense of State & rdquor; that he asks the PP.

“When he spoke of NATO, half of the blue bench did not applaud him. This had never happened in democratic Spain nor does it happen in any European nation & rdquor ;, Gamarra ugly to the president

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The conservative deputy denounced that the gas ceiling for Spain and Portugal, allowed by Brussels on an exceptional basis, has not yet begun to be applied and has not clarified what her party will do with the extension of the anti-crisis plan that the Executive has decided. In this context, she once again demanded Sánchez, as Alberto Núñez Feijóo did this Tuesday in the Senate, who readjust income tax brackets income of less than 40,000 euros to compensate for high inflation.

Regarding the Sahara, Gamarra lamented that the head of the Executive has not clarified “who negotiated & rdquor; the letter, “Who took it to Mohamed VI & rdquor; and if the change of position regarding the future of that territory is related to the espionage that he himself (and also the ministers Margarita Robles and Fernando Grande-Marlaska) suffered in his mobile.



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