Sánchez calls on Von der Leyen to increase pressure on Israel and she celebrates her commitment to increase defense spending

Madrid/Brussels – The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has asked the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, to increase pressure on Israel in light of the escalation of the offensive in Gaza, and she in turn has welcomed Spain’s “commitment” to increase defense spending.

In the meeting they held this Wednesday in Brussels, they addressed the crisis in the Middle East, a year after Spain recognized Palestine as a state, and Sánchez conveyed his “extreme concern” regarding the “humanitarian catastrophe of which the Gazan population is today the main victim,” according to a government statement.

In this regard, Sánchez reiterated the need to increase pressure on Israel to stop “its illegal invasion” by suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and implementing sanctions, including an arms sales embargo. So far, European partners have only committed to reviewing this agreement.

The head of the Community Executive, for her part, described the meeting as a “good meeting” to discuss a wide range of issues, including Spain’s “commitment to increase defense spending,” an effort that Von der Leyen said she welcomed.

The upcoming common budget that will begin to be negotiated this summer will be “key” in strengthening the continent’s security, alongside national contributions and the private sector, expressed the German conservative.

In this respect, Sánchez emphasized the need to achieve spending targets that are compatible with the social, environmental, and multilateral commitments of the member states. The president committed a few weeks ago to reach 2% of GDP in security spending by the year 2025, but NATO is calling for an additional effort to reach 5%.

In this line, Sánchez reminded that Spain invests “almost ten times more than the NATO average” in peacekeeping operations and has more than 3,000 military personnel deployed in operations abroad.

Tariffs and agreement with MERCOSUR

Von der Leyen also referred to the trade issue and the need to “strengthen” the network of international agreements that the European Union has, “starting with Mercosur,” referring to the agreement announced last December but whose processing has since been in the hands of Brussels, awaiting the presentation of legislative texts that would allow the ratification process to begin. Sánchez has also called for “urgency” to complete this association agreement.

The President of the Commission, according to the message she has disseminated on social media, addressed with the president the “intolerable” humanitarian crisis in Gaza and pointed out that humanitarian aid must “be able to reach those in need,” in an “immediate and large-scale” manner.

The meeting started after 11:00 AM, after Von der Leyen received Sánchez upon his arrival at the European Commission headquarters, where they posed for a greeting in front of the press but did not want to make statements.

Both leaders also addressed the tariff threat from the United States to the EU, and Sánchez conveyed his support for the ongoing negotiations and insisted on the need to maintain a response based on “unity and reciprocity.”

They did not talk about Catalan

The Spanish president also recalled the need to expand electrical interconnections of the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe, on the day that marks one month since the general blackout that left Spain and Portugal without power for several hours, and the causes of which have still not been clarified.

In the meeting, however, the request for Catalan, Basque, and Galician to be official languages of the EU was not addressed, according to government sources, despite the fact that the day before, Spain clashed again with the reservations of a dozen partners to achieve this reform. (May 28)