Spain demands an apology from Milei and calls ambassador to Argentina for consultations

The Spanish government called for consultations, this Sunday (19), its ambassador in Buenos Aires, María Jesús Alonso Jiménez, and demanded a “public apology” from Javier Milei after the Argentine president called the wife of Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, as “corrupt”.

“Spain demands a public apology from Mr. Milei and, if there is none, we will take all the measures we consider opportune to guarantee our sovereignty and dignity,” said the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, hours after the Argentine president’s statement.

Milei's statements were made at an event by Vox, a Spanish far-right party, this Sunday (19), on a trip to Argentina that was questioned due to private and party activities, without official meetings with Spanish authorities.

According to the Spanish minister, Milei was received in the European country, “with all due respect and deference” and necessary public resources were made available to the Argentine during his stay in the country.

“To this hospitality and good faith, he responded with a frontal attack on our democracy, our institutions and Spain,” Albares said. “It is unacceptable for a sitting president visiting Spain to insult Spain and the Prime Minister of Spain,” he added.

The Spanish minister said that he had obtained support from the majority of his country's parliamentary spokespersons for the response to Milei and that, in fact, the high representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, would speak out, as he considered “an attack of this caliber on a state -member” as “an attack on the European Union as a whole.

According to him, “the very serious statements (…) go beyond any type of political and ideological difference” and are unprecedented in the history of international relations or in the relationship between the two countries.

“Corrupt”

The response from the Moncloa Palace comes hours after Milei described Begoña Gómez, Sánchez's wife, as “corrupt,” who is being investigated for alleged influence peddling and corruption in private negotiations.

“Global elites do not realize how destructive it can be to implement the ideas of socialism, because that is very far away, they do not know what kind of society and country they can produce and what kind of people screwed to power and what levels of abuse it can reach. to generate. Even when the woman is corrupt, gets dirty and takes five days to think,” said Milei.

The statement refers to Sánchez's decision to suspend his public agenda for a few days to decide whether he would continue leading the government. The announcement was made at the end of April, after the opening of an investigation against his wife for allegedly benefiting businessmen and a relative in bids.

This Saturday (18), Sánchez said that the “ultra-right international, led by Milei” would meet in Madrid because they “hate” everything that, according to him, Spanish society represents: “feminism, social justice, labor dignity, the state of good -strong social welfare and democracy”.

But even before Milei's trip to Spain, relations between the countries were already tense. Earlier this month, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente suggested that Milei ingested “substances” during the election campaign last year.

The Casa Rosada, headquarters of the Argentine government, condemned the statements and doubled down: in a statement, it said that Sánchez's government had “more important problems to worry about”, such as the corruption accusations against Begoña Gómez.

The text also accuses the Spanish government of “putting Spanish women at risk by allowing illegal immigration”, damaging the integrity of Spain by making agreements with separatists, and generating “death and poverty” with left-wing policies.

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded, stating that the terms used in the Argentine declaration “do not correspond to the relations between the two countries and brotherly peoples”.

Source: CNN Brasil

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