Spanish far-right Vox party leader Santiago Abascal greets Argentina's President Javier Milei during the rally where Milei insulted Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Madrid, Spain, May 19, 2024. Photo: Ana Beltran/Reuters.
In Madrid this past weekend, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, referred to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as a “scumbag” and referred to Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, as “corrupt.” As a result, Spain has recalled its Ambassador to Argentina until further notice.
On Sunday, May 19, during a press conference, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs José Manuel Albares asked Argentinian President Milei for a public apology for the insults of Sánchez and his wife. If an apology is not provided, said Albares, Spain will take “appropriate measures to defend its sovereignty and dignity.”
Albares stated, “This is unprecedented in the history of international relations and even less so in the history of relations between two countries united by strong ties of brotherhood.”
#Canal24Horas | José Manuel Albares: "Acabo de llamar a consultas a nuestra embajadora en Buenos Aires […] España exige al señor Milei disculpas públicas. En caso de no producirse, tomaremos todas las medidas que creemos oportunas para defender nuestra soberanía y dignidad" pic.twitter.com/gECvkspSW4
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) May 19, 2024
Albares continued, “Mr. Milei has taken relations between Spain and Argentina to their most serious moment in our recent history,” which is why the decision had been made to call the Spanish ambassador in Buenos Aires for consultation.
In the event that the Argentinian president does not apologize, Albares said the Spanish government will take “all the measures deemed appropriate to defend our sovereignty and our dignity.”
“We demand from Mr. Milei respect that is due between nations, that they do not interference in internal affairs, and that they live up to the great country he represents and the position he occupies, forms of respect that should never have been abandoned, especially while being in the capital of Spain,” he added
Before Albares’ appearance, Spanish socialist leaders condemned Milei’s insulting comments on social media platforms and asked conservative Popular Party’s (PP) Alberto Núñez Feijóo to condemn the insults. So far, Albares stated, the leaders of the PP have not done so.
Milei made these controversial statements at the Viva Europa ‘24 rally, organized this past weekend in Madrid by the Spanish far-right group Vox, whose leader, Santiago Abascal, is a personal friend of the Argentinian president.
Those in attendance cheered conservative speakers such as French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and leader of Portugal’s Chega Party, Andre Ventura, while jeering at every mention of progressives such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and their causes such as the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, feminism, and socialism.
Conservative Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was present via a live video-link. She earned applause for her speech in Spanish in which she attacked illegal migration and surrogate pregnancies. Hungary’s current Prime Minister Viktor Orban and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki exalted Europe’s Christian values in pre-recorded videos, while Chile’s presidential runner-up Jose Antonio Kast and the Zionist state of Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chakli received a more muted reception, Reuters reported.
(Últimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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