Coalition Sánchez censures the equidistance with the war in Ukraine while Podemos accuses the PSOE of fueling the war escalation

The fronts are multiplying within the coalition government

Coalition Sánchez censures the equidistance with the war in Ukraine while Podemos accuses the PSOE of fueling the war escalation

The fronts are multiplying within the coalition government. When a clash to fade, another quickly emerges. This is what has been happening in recent weeks: reform of the law of only yes is yes; intervention of the basic food shopping basket; Morocco and the Sahrawis; the war in Ukraine... On this last point, just as the first anniversary of the invasion of Russia is about to come to an end, Podemos raises the decibels again, positioning the PSOE as a party that has contributed to the escalation of the war.

While Pedro Sánchez is on a mini tour of Europe, visiting Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, where the war in Ukraine is a key issue in all meetings, Podemos has held the third peace conference in Madrid. A forum where the Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, has asked the Socialists to “reconsider her position; that we recognize that having contributed to the escalation of the war is a mistake and that we use our new leadership position in Europe to articulate a new alliance of countries for peace”. Belarra already called the PSOE a "war party."

The President of the Government, who did not listen to Minister Belarra, but did know about the celebration of this act, has defended that wanting peace is compatible with helping Ukraine militarily. What he has said is not admissible is having an "equidistant" position. «It is important not to be equidistant between the aggressor and the attacked. We are with the assaulted », Sánchez wanted to make explicit in the face of criticism from his government partner.

"Nobody wanted a war except one person," Sánchez recounted from Slovenia, where he put an end to this mini-tour. «If we have never wanted war, how can we not bet on peace. We want peace, but the basis of that peace has to be defined around the proposals made by the attacked party”, he reflected, referring to Volodimir Zelenski. Sánchez, who hopes that, during his EU presidency in the second half of the year, steps can be taken towards that peace, believes it is crucial to broaden the horizon beyond the European Union and seek allies that support Zelenski's theses.

Faced with this approach, Belarra has even questioned the credibility of the Government, of the socialist part of it, pointing out that it cannot be guaranteed, as the Executive maintains at least today, that they will not be sent in the future Spanish soldiers. «Today they tell us that there will never be Spanish soldiers fighting in Ukraine, they tell us that there will be no American soldiers flying combat planes, because that would mean, citing US President Joe Biden, the Third World War. But comrades, we have no guarantee that they will not break his word (...) The escalation of war is an insatiable animal that is never enough and drags everyone down ».

What the President of the Government defends is that in a context like the current one, it is necessary for the EU and NATO countries to maintain unity of action on issues ranging "from humanitarian aid, the reception of refugees or the supply of weapons for the legitimate defense of its freedom and territorial integrity" because, it has maintained, "it is violated by Putin".

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