José Manuel Albares speaks out after the blocking by PP and the far-right Vox of the friendship treaty with France: "The PP has become an anti-system party"

The Senate tried to block again yesterday, Thursday, the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between France and Spain, signed by Pedro Sánchez and Emmanuel Macron in Barcelona in January 2023. This is because the majority of the PP and the far-right Vox in the Upper House has approved sending the text to the Constitutional Court to rule on the clause that regulates the rotating participation of ministers from one country in meetings of the other.

The initiative went ahead after 146 votes in favor, those of PP and Vox, against 112 against and two abstentions. The political and legal effect is immediate: ratification is suspended until the Constitutional Court rules, without a closed deadline to resolve. The treaty had already been ratified by France and approved by the Congress of Deputies on June 18, however, the path chosen by the PP delays the agreement for the second time and leaves the bilateral relationship pending another ruling from the Constitutional Court.

Given this, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has stated: "Spain has treaties of friendship and cooperation with all its neighbors, Portugal, Morocco or Algeria, only France was missing, the first time in history," to which he continues by asking a question: "Why does the Popular Party sabotage us, why does it go against the well-being of Spaniards?

The minister continues his message, saying that France is a major investor in Spain and that through its large companies it provides employment to half a million Spaniards. He also continues to criticize the PP by saying that: "The PP knows perfectly well that this treaty has nothing unconstitutional about it, but it has become an anti-system party." Finally, he wanted to add that: "It would be a serious danger for Spain if Mr. Feijóo sat with this vision on the relationship with our main neighbor in the European Council," he concluded.