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The leaders of the European Parliament’s political groups refused on Wednesday to hold a debate on threats made by United States President Donald Trump against Spain, sources told Euronews.
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Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump called the Spanish government “terrible”, criticising Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s refusal to allow the US military to use its bases to support its operations in and around Iran and pushing Madrid to spend more on defence.
“We’re going to cut off all trade. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he said. Among the EU leaders publicly offering solidarity with Spain after the remarks are French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and European Council President António Costa, who called Sánchez the day after.
During the usual Conference of Presidents, which gathers in Brussels the leaders of Parliament’s political groups ahead of a plenary session in Strasbourg, the Greens/EFA proposed a debate titled “US threats and sanctions against Spain”, getting the immediate support of Socialists and Democrats, liberal Renew Europe and The Left group.
However, these groups together do not constitute a majority in the European Parliament, which is needed to approve any change in the plenary agenda.
The European People’s Party, right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists, and the far-right Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations all refused to greenlight the debate, which would have included a statement by the European Commission and by a representative of the current Cypriot presidency of the EU
The plenary session, scheduled from 9 to 12 March in Strasbourg, will include a debate on the war in the Middle East and its consequences for Europe on Wednesday morning, and one on the “rise of political violence, notably by far left organisations” on Wednesday afternoon.
