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Carles Puigdemont, a leader of the pro-independence Catalan movement.
In Spain, one fight is over, while another has just begun
It was an enormously controversial political plan, and now the deed is done. On Thursday, Spain’s Congress approved a plan togrant amnesty to more than 300 Catalan nationalists, many of whom were involved in the failed 2017 Catalan secession referendum that Spanish courts ruled illegal. Among those now free of legal jeopardy is Carles Puigdemont, the organizer of that referendum, who avoided arrest only by fleeing the country to Brussels and later to Perpignan, just across the Spanish border in France.
The vote passed by an ultra-thin 177-172 margin. Those in favor included the governing PSOE; its coalition partner, Sumar; various Catalan, Basque, and Galician nationalist parties; and the far-left Podemos. Opposed were the center-right People’s Party, the far-right Vox, and other conservatives.
The deal was controversial from the start because Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez could not have formed a government after the last election without the backing of Catalan nationalist political parties — and those parties demanded this amnesty as a condition of their support. Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has denounced the amnesty as “political corruption,” while Socialists insist the goal is political reconciliation.
The bottom line: Puigdemont can now safely cross the border from France, Catalan would-be separatists are again free to wage political battle, and the next fight over secession has begun.
UK Prime Minister Sunak's push for early election will hardly boost his chances
Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from Halmstad, Sweden.
Does the decision by Norway, Ireland, and Spain to recognize Palestine as an independent state further increase the isolation of Israel?
Not necessarily, but it does further reinforce the determination that is there throughout the international community, I would say, that it's only a two-state solution that over time, can bring peace and stability to the troubled region of the Middle East. In that sense, of course, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his resistance to move towards a two-state solution is increasingly isolated in the global community. And this particular decision is a further sign of that.
Does the decision by the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to call an early election increases his possibility to retain his position at Downing Street?
Hardly likely, I would say. There are different theories why he decided to do the gamble. And though, it’s early for an election, it's not quite certain it would have been better to, it could have been equally bad to wait. So, he probably said, “Let's just get over with it.” But the Conservatives are 20% behind in opinion polls. It might not be that bad when it comes to the election. Election campaigns tend to have the effect of changing these particular figures, slightly. But the likelihood of, him still being prime minister of the United Kingdom by the end of July, that is, I have to say, very slim.
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Municipality workers remove debris from the streets after flooding in Sheikh Jalal district, Baghlan province, Afghanistan May 12, 2024.
Hard Numbers: Devastating floods, COVID reporter released, Catalonia votes, Swiss contestant wins Eurovision
315: At least 315 people in northern Afghanistan have died in severe floods that also injured over 1,600 others, wiped out thousands of homes, and devastated livestock herds that feed the region. Aid agencies expect chaos. It’s been a bad month for floods worldwide — similar inundations in southern Brazil and Kenya have killed hundreds in recent weeks.
4: Lawyer and journalist Zhang Zhan has been released from prison in China four years after being detained for her reporting on the government’s draconian response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In jail, Zhang’s health suffered severely, with her weight dropping to below 90 lbs at one point. Her former lawyer says Zhang will either be returned home or sent somewhere to do a few months of “soft prison” time while cloistered from the rest of the world.
9: Candidates from nine parties competed for seats in local elections in the wealthy, independence-leaning Spanish region of Catalonia on Sunday, and the Socialist candidate supported by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected to squeak out a win. If no party wins a majority outright, the Socialists will likely need to hammer together a coalition to maintain control.
2: Students walked out on two major commencement speakers this weekend. Dozens of Duke graduates turned their backs on comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and Virginia Commonwealth University grads gave the same treatment to Gov. Glenn Youngkin. In addition to the walkouts, several more campuses saw major demonstrations surrounding their commencement activities.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gives a statement to annonunce he will stay on as Prime Minister after weighing his exit from the Spanish government, at Moncloa palace in Madrid, Spain April 29, 2024.
Spain’s prime minister isn’t going anywhere
After nearly a week of uncertainty, Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, announced he would remain the country’s leader. Last Wednesday, he threatened to leave the position because of what he termed a “harassment and bullying operation” being waged against him and his wife by political and media enemies.
The move came hours after a Madrid court opened an investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez, for influence peddling and corruption. The trial was brought by Manos Limpias, a self-styled trade union with far-right links, who accused Gómez of using her influence to secure sponsors for a university master’s degree course she runs. Madrid's public prosecutor asked Thursday that the case against her be closed.
Sánchez’s threat to resign spurred demonstrations around Spain over the weekend calling for him to stay put. More than 10,000 people gathered in front of the Socialist Party’s headquarters in Madrid in a show of support.
Sánchez attributed his decision to stay to this weekend’s mobilizations, and he has called for Spaniards to rise above “the global reactionary movement that wants to impose its retrograde agenda through defamation and falsehoods.”
FILE PHOTO: Spain's Socialist leader and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, accompanied by his wife Begona Gomez, applauds as he addresses supporters during the general election, in Madrid, Spain, July 23, 2023.
Spain’s Sanchez surprises with a siesta
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez posted a letter on social media Wednesday announcing he would suspend all his public duties and take a few days to consider resigning. Earlier in the day, a judge opened an investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez, over corruption surrounding government tenders and subsidies. The court did not give specific details of its allegations.
In his letter, Sánchez accuses “ultraconservative” interests of pursuing a cynical smear campaign against his wife because Spanish voters rejected them at the ballot box last year. Gómez holds no official position and is not a politician, and Sánchez firmly denied there was any case for the court.
Nonetheless, he wrote that his love for her made him question whether it was all worth it. “I sincerely don’t know,” he wrote. “This attack is unprecedented, so serious and so vulgar that I must stop and reflect with my wife.”
Subordinate ministers and political allies are publicly backing Sánchez’s decision, but maybe not purely out of solidarity. The PM is a notorious risk-taker who managed to hold on to power against the odds last year by calling a snap election and then cobbling together a minority coalition. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s a crucial regional election on May 12 in wealthy, often separatist-leaning Catalonia.
A bit of sympathy for the PM’s wife certainly can’t hurt, can it?
Sánchez said he will announce his decision by Monday, April 29.
Spain, Girona, 24/02/06. Several hundred farmers gather on the highway to protest against bureaucracy, Europe and water management.
Brussels bows to farmers on green goals
On Tuesday, the European Commission scrapped a plan to limit pesticide use and excluded agriculture from its roadmap to cut greenhouse gasses as the ruling coalition attempts to quell bloc-wide protests by farmers.
The concessions follow pledges last week to reduce the burden of environmental policy on farmers after protests erupted in France, Belgium, Germany, and other countries last month. Farmers say they can’t get a decent price for their produce thanks to strict environmental regulations, competition from cheap Ukrainian imports, and insufficient government support.
The EU did limit Ukrainian imports last week and loosened rules on how much land farmers have to leave fallow, but no dice. The protests only grew with farmers in Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, and Greece all turning out on Monday and Tuesday.
Why is Brussels being flexible? European parliamentary elections are looming in June, and the ruling centrist coalition is sweating the populist surge on the continent.
Knowing they need to keep farmers on their side to retain power, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged last week to rethink a series of climate-related laws.Spain's newly re-appointed Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is congratulated by People's Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, at the Spanish parliament in Madrid, Spain, November 16, 2023.
Spain’s controversial new government
After weeks of bare-knuckle bargaining, Pedro Sánchez, leader of Spain’s Socialist Party, has secured a four-seat majority in the country’s 350-seat Parliament to win a second term as prime minister. The process has been exceptionally ugly.
Four months ago, the conservative Popular Party finished with the most votes in multiparty elections, but its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, failed to find the coalition partners he needed to form a majority government. Sánchez has now succeeded where Feijóo failed by forming an alliance with Catalan nationalist parties conditioned on legislation offering amnesty to hundreds of Catalan separatists who tried and failed in 2017 to lead a process of secession from Spain. This is a choice Sánchez once pledged he would not make.
Sánchez says the amnesty can help heal old wounds. His critics charge that he has committed treason in order to win enough seats to keep his job. The country has been rocked by (sometimes violent) protests in recent weeks. The demonstrations may continue as the amnesty law moves forward.
Spanish riot police officers stand guard during a protest, following acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's negotiations for granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid, in Madrid, Spain, November 7, 2023.
In Spain, demonstrations turn violent
Right-wing protests against Spain’s governing Socialist Party erupted in violence this week as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez moved closer to a deal that would provide Catalan separatists with amnesty in exchange for providing him with the backing he needs to form a new coalition government and avoid fresh elections. Rioting in Madrid on Tuesday night injured 29 police officers and 10 demonstrators.
In July, the conservative People’s Party won the most votes in national elections, but party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo fell short in September of attracting enough coalition partners to form a government. Sánchez now appears on the verge of forming a center-left coalition that depends on support from the pro-independence Together for Catalonia and the Catalan Republican Left. In exchange for their support, they’ve demanded amnesty for several hundred Catalan politicians and activists in legal trouble following a failed drive in 2017 for Catalan secession from Spain.
Spain’s right-wing opposition accuses Sánchez of flip-flopping on the question of amnesty, which he once called “unconstitutional,” and blames him for the resulting violence, which looks likely to continue.