A strong position

In renewing his support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sánchez has also set himself firmly against Trump

Mark Nayler

Thursday, 27 February 2025, 13:44

Pedro Sánchez's foreign policy has often been inconsistent and unpredictable, but there is one thing of which he seems sure: Donald Trump mustn't be allowed to bully the EU. After being slammed by Trump in January for low defence spending, Spain has emerged as the US president's most vocal critic in Europe, opposing his stances on major issues such as China, Ukraine and Israel-Palestine.

While the leaders of other EU nations, as well as Nato chief Mark Rutte, have accepted Trump's combative stance on China, Spain advocates for a more nuanced approach. This week, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told the Financial Times that the EU must "decide [for itself] when China can be a partner and when [it can be] a competitor". When China "can be a partner - let's take advantage of that", he said.

Albares' comments are in line with Madrid's opposition to EU tariffs on Chinese electric cars and Sánchez's courting of Xi Jinping - but not with the EU's declaration that China is a "systemic rival", or Trump's latest trade war with Beijing. Self-interest is a key factor: Spain benefits from Chinese investment, which has increased substantially over the last decade, and from exporting pork to China, which in 2024 imported more of the meat from Spain than any other country.

Sánchez's latest one-billion-euro military aid package to Ukraine must have been finalised while the members of Sumar, which opposes sending arms to Kiev, were out to breakfast. In renewing his support for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sánchez has also set himself firmly against Trump, or at least the second incarnation of Trump.

The US president's recent remarks - that Zelenskyy is a dictator and Ukraine started the war - represent a total reversal of US policy, and an alarming alignment with Russia's narrative. Surprisingly, Trump wasn't slurring his speech or staggering about when he uttered them.

Sumar will be happier with Sánchez's opposition to Trump's new stance on Gaza, which again seemed to have been improvised on the spot, no doubt to the horror of the president's advisers. Earlier this month, Trump proposed that the US "take over" the Gaza Strip in order to rebuild it from the rubble up - expelling its Palestinian residents in the process. Sánchez has called the plan "immoral".

Trump - once referred to by Martin Amis as a "high-end bingo caller" - probably thought that Spain would come grovelling after he criticised its Nato contribution. He was badly mistaken. As other European nations somewhat timidly prepare for another four years of the 'Great Pretender', who was once "nothing more than a reasonably good sick joke" (Amis again), Spain has made its position perfectly clear.

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