As he passed Lebanonthe Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, addressed words of recognition to his «friendly partner». «Lebanon is a country essential to maintain regional stability and to contain the spiral of violence», he said after the meeting with the interim prime minister, Najib MikatiIn Beirut. The socialist politician promised it he will soon travel to Israelinsisted on Spain’s defense of a «immediate and permanent ceasefire«and put the peace conference proposed by the European Union. «The materialization of the solution of two states includes the establishment and recognition of a a viable Palestinian state«he stressed.
«Lebanon is one of our partners for peace: it is a generous country as demonstrated by its ability to welcome Palestinian and Syrian refugees, and others reference to peaceful coexistence between religions«Albares said in his first trip to the Middle East since the war against Gaza began on October 7th. After meetings with humanitarian workers and military commanders present in the country, he will leave on Wednesday for Iraq. Albares clarified to this newspaper that this first tour excluded Israel and Palestine, where he intends to go soon, because the agendas with his colleagues do not coincide. «I wanted to visit two countries where we have contingents of troops to convey a message of support to both countries and our soldiers,” he said, referring to Lebanon and Iraq, as both have a Spanish military presence.
Despite their interest in accompanying the more than 650 Spanish soldiers deployed in Lebanon, i safety conditions the current ones will prevent Albares from visiting the base Miguel de Cervantes, in the south of the country. They have been there since last October 7th daily clashes between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Shiite militias Hezbollah, which caused the death of over 200 people. Albares insisted that the situation in Lebanon is «worrying» and reiterated his support for the United Nations mission in the country. The Spanish army «contributes every day to avoiding a regional escalation that we must avoid at all costs», stated the socialist representative. «We will be an active country in the development of the peace plan presented by [el alto representante de Exteriores de la UE] Josep Borrelland Lebanon is, without a doubt, one of the main actors with which Spain wants to collaborate to establish a blocking the containment of violence that the region is suffering,» he added.
«Israel is a friendly country»
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«Spain is working to ensure that The tragedy of Gaza will never happen again and for everyone in the region to have a future of peace and prosperity», he defended. Furthermore, Albares also expressed his intention to visit Israel, where the president’s statements Pedro Sanchez caused a diplomatic crisis this led to the withdrawal of its ambassador in Madrid, who has now returned. «I don’t have the slightest problem visiting Israel; it’s a friendly country and the Israeli people are friendly people,» he clarified. Albares described how «unbearable«the number of daily deaths of women and children in the Gaza Strip is higher than 25,500 people because of the war. «We ask for entry of humanitarian aid without any restrictions and a peace conference which must have as its concrete result the creation and recognition of a viable Palestinian state Gaza and the West Bank under the same authority«He insisted.
For Albares «this is the best guarantee of peace and stability» in the region. As part of the friendship between Lebanon and Spain, the Minister will visit this Wednesday Spanish cooperation projects in the country which will be included as a priority in the new General Cooperation Plan 2024. Without the possibility of visiting the troops of the Spanish base, some military commanders They will travel to Beirut to meet Albares and talk about the work done in recent months. Most of 600 soldiers deployed in southern Lebanon they are part of the United Nations Interim Force for Lebanon (UNIFIL), created in 1978 in the midst of the Lebanese civil war.
