Who is the "traitor" that Feijóo is talking about?

BarcelonaThe meeting of numerous political leaders in Barcelona featured, at midday, one of the protagonists to be the leader of the opposition in Spain and the top leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who made a total amendment to the government of Pedro Sánchez and his international alliances, while fully defending NATO, despite the shifts and multiple conflicts initiated by the US President, Donald Trump. He even used the word "traitor" when reviewing Spain's position in Europe: Who was he referring to?

The Spanish president, who will close the European Pulse Forum which is being held this Friday organized by Politico and BeBartlet, has been omnipresent in the words of the Galician leader. "I know that many are concerned that Spain has abandoned allies," he said, warning that he has opted for "new allies" in recent conflicts that have clashed with traditional ones. "The European Union is not just a market, it is a commitment that is respected in good times and bad. As a minister told me, when one abandons Europe, one becomes a traitor to Europe," he stated. In fact, he had specifically mentioned "technological alliances that contradict the principles of the EU," in reference to China. Is Pedro Sánchez the "traitor" Feijóo is talking about?

But he did not stop there and reviewed the clash in the Venezuelan and Iranian cases, despite overlooking Trump's illegalities. "With autocrats, all of Europe must have a firm stance. It should not accept congratulations," he lamented, implicitly referring to Iran's congratulations, despite also Hamas in the Israeli case. Regarding Iran, he reproached the reopening of the embassy in the Islamic country with the argument that "women's rights," "homosexuals' rights," and "human rights" in general must be defended. However, it is in Venezuela where he has clashed most with Sánchez: "I assume the commitment in Hispanic America where Spain, due to historical responsibility, has a role to play"; "not with Delcy or Maduro, but with María Corina Machado."

He has indeed mentioned the "unequivocal warmongering drift that is sweeping the world" and has championed Europe as "a project of peace" and "sanity" because "containment, de-escalation, and diplomacy is the only path in which the West recognizes itself" and all countries must "push for reason to triumph over barbarism". But he has again criticized Sánchez for "self-excluding" himself from European summits or for being "excluded" by allies and has reaffirmed that, if he presides over the state government, Spain "will be a loyal partner that respects agreements and commitments".

Atlanticist and pro-immigration statement

Following the PP's usual line of argument, Feijóo has warned that the Spanish government has members who are against NATO, while adding that the European Union must be "defended" "from its enemies from outside and inside". "Europe's commitment to NATO must be unequivocal, we must all preserve it, it is the best instrument to guarantee security because we are threatened," he said. Immediately afterwards, curiously, he referred to the Europeanist and Atlanticist commitment "in the face of the tariff war or authoritarianisms and populisms of all kinds". All this despite the fact that Trump is the protagonist of the geopolitical earthquakes.

The Galician leader also had the opportunity to talk about immigration, where he admitted that there is "concern" among partners about the massive regularization by the state executive because, by approving it, "Spain is exporting a migratory problem to the entire European Union". "The decision to regularize more than a million irregular immigrants is being adopted against the criteria of Europe and the majority of the Congress and the Senate," he stressed, despite not explaining where he got the figures from, nor referring to the fact that José María Aznar regularized half a million migrants when he governed the State.