Aznar reacts to European endorsement of amnesty: "Seditious aggression must not go unpunished or be rewarded"

José María Aznar has reacted harshly to the endorsement by the Court of Justice of the European Union of the Amnesty Law. The former President of the Government has warned that "seditious aggression against the law must not go unpunished, much less be rewarded", just minutes after the Luxembourg court's ruling was announced.

Aznar pronounced these words during the Libertas Forum organized by the European People's Party in Madrid, a meeting that brings together conservative leaders from Europe and Latin America to debate democracy, populism, and authoritarianism. The European ruling was announced about ten minutes before his intervention, becoming one of the main axes of his speech.

Aznar demands that the procés maintain consequences

The former president has defended that democracy, universal suffrage, the rule of law, and the empire of law must advance together. In his opinion, one of the main current political threats is the attempt to confront democratic will with compliance with the law, a juxtaposition that he considers especially visible in the independence challenge of 2017.

"We must tirelessly combat one of the worst political deviations of our time, the attempt to confront and pit democracy against law," he stated. Aznar used this approach to argue that the European endorsement of the amnesty cannot erase the political responsibility of those who promoted the unilateral rupture in Catalonia.

The former head of the Executive has taken his reflection beyond Spanish borders and has asked his European partners to consider any attack on the constitutional order of a Member State as a problem for the entire Union. "When the constitutional integrity of a Member State is attacked, the entire European institutional system is attacked", he remarked.

Aznar maintains that national constitutions serve as the foundation for community treaties and that both structures face similar dangers. "The unity of Spain, of France, of Germany or of Italy is the foundation of the unity of Europe," he defended before the attendees at the forum.

He has also warned that certain nationalist aspirations seek to weaken states to rebuild Europe from smaller, confrontational territories. According to Aznar, these claims aim to "crack the cornerstones of the Union" and create a continent made up of "diminished, impoverished, and confrontational" fragments.

The CJEU backs amnesty against European law

The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union has established that community law allows for a law aimed at reducing institutional and political tensions in Catalonia and facilitating a reconciliation process. The magistrates place the approval and application of an amnesty within the competence of the member states.

The ruling responds to questions raised by Spanish courts regarding the financial interests of the Union and European anti-terrorism regulations. The court concludes that the Spanish law is compatible with these provisions, although it questions the rigid two-month period imposed on judges to lift certain responsibilities or halt proceedings.

The resolution reinforces the application of the amnesty and may facilitate its reach to separatist leaders who are still beyond its scope. Carles Puigdemont's case will continue to depend on Spanish courts, especially on the interpretation of embezzlement and the pending appeal before the Constitutional Court.

The PP respects the ruling but maintains its political rejection

The national leadership of the Popular Party has reacted with a more restrained tone than Aznar. Génova has conveyed its "absolute respect" for the ruling and has stressed that democrats must accept judicial resolutions regardless of whether they coincide with their political positions.

The PP recalls, however, that the European pronouncement is limited to specific issues related to community law. The ruling also does not analyze the political expediency of the amnesty nor does it replace the Spanish courts responsible for applying it in each procedure. The Popular Party thus tries to downplay the definitive victory interpretation made by the Government.

"The Government will try to present this ruling as the end of the debate. It is mistaken," sources from Génova have indicated. The party maintains that the discussion also affects the political negotiation that allowed the investiture of Pedro Sánchez and considers it "morally unacceptable" to exchange parliamentary support for penal benefits.

The party insists that no resolution eliminates the political responsibility of the pro-independence leaders for what happened in Catalonia. At the same time, Génova refers to the strategy presented by Feijóo at the last congress of the Catalan PP, focused on leaving the procés behind and shifting the debate towards housing, healthcare, security, and tax reduction.

The far-right Vox has chosen a different interpretation and has used the ruling to reinforce its discourse against community institutions. Its head of delegation in the European Parliament, Jorge Buxadé, maintains that the unity of Spain must be defended from the national sphere "without waiting" for the protection of international organizations. Vox has also demanded explanations from those who assured that Brussels would end up annulling the amnesty or facilitating the arrest of Puigdemont.

A defense of the center far from ambiguity

The amnesty has occupied a prominent part of Aznar's intervention, but his speech has also included an internal message directed at the Popular Party. The former president has claimed the political center as "an attitude" and "a commitment to moderation", although he has rejected that this position forces diluting proposals to please all electorates.

Aznar has recalled the process initiated in 1990 to integrate within the PP all the space located "to the right of the left". That project, built under the slogan "Centered on freedom", turned the popular party into a national alternative capable of later reaching La Moncloa.

For the former president, occupying the center means seeking agreements, preferring reforms to ruptures, trusting in institutions, and respecting those who disagree within the law. Moderation also cannot become a renunciation of defending one's own positions nor a simple strategy to capture the floating vote.

"I have never believed that the PP only succeeds when it stops looking like the PP," he stated. Aznar rejected that the party should imitate the PSOE or be dragged by the positions of the far-right, and called for a recognizable offer that can attract citizens from different political spaces.

Aznar backs Feijóo and calls for a recognizable PP

The former president also expressly backed Alberto Núñez Feijóo, of whom he said he leads "the best version of the Popular Party", capable of integrating the experience of a great national party and presenting itself as a government alternative.

Aznar believes that the PP can bring together those seeking political change in Spain without resorting to ambiguous proposals or assuming the "impracticable extravagances" of the extremes. "The PP is not a substitute or replacement for anyone; it is a real alternative, as centered as it is defined," he concluded.