Zapatero asks that the reinforced European defense is based on a statement in favor of peace | Spain

The former government president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has asked on Tuesday that the European defense that is being built from the multi -million dollar plan to rearma the commission and the exponential growth of the Military spending On the part of the twenty -seven be a statement of principles in their frontispiece. This statement, he stressed, must include a commitment of « unequivocal loyalty to the letter of San Francisco », the United Nations Foundational Treaty, and the promise that Europe will « never attack in the first place » and « will only use strength to defend itself. »

Shoemaker has raised the Pacifism Flag in the presentation of his book The peaceful solution (Plaza & Janés, 2025), in which he has been accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Professor of Political Science Máriam Martínez-Bascuñán. « Defending peace and declaring yourself unequivocally pacifist is a duty, » he said. The former president has lamented the weakness of the pacifist movement, « that there is no powerful civic reaction as was against the Iraq war » before the invasion of Ukraine or « the terrible Gaza Matanza. This is what worries me the most. This lack of reaction is unthinkable, « he added. » The militaristic idea that defends the need to increase defense budgets has been imposed. Undoubtedly, we are facing the big problem of this first quarter of the 21st century: the security speech has been given to the eagerness of peace, ”he writes in his book.

Albares has come to the passage of these words stressing that « the ‘no to war’ makes no sense in Madrid, Berlin or Paris. You have to shout it in Moscow, because this is the war of a single man, » he said, in reference to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. « We must not be fooled, » he added, « Europe is not in a military or warning career. What we want is for Europe to remain a peace project. »

In a difficult balance in his pacifist vision of international relations and the government’s plan to raise military spending up to 2% of GDP, Shoemaker He has settled the dilemma stating: « I have no qualms about strengthening the defense whenever we strengthen the institutions for peace in parallel. » « How many military do we have and how many diplomats dedicated to integrating a body for peace? »

Without abandoning his proverbial optimism, Zapatero has assumed that « Trumpism will be (a phenomenon), it remains to be seen how many damages causes », and that « Russia is more than Putin », so it has stressed that the task ahead of the EU is to be able to offer the world « a project of reconstruction of international political community », once they both disappear. In his opinion, the biggest difference between the current situation and the Europe of interwar in a century ago the fascism is now that the EU now exists, « the most advanced civilizational project in history. » Like slavery, he has shown his confidence that one day the « abolition of war » can be decreed,

Despite its different perspectives, Albares and Zapatero have exchanged praise. The first has assured that the foreign policy of the current government rises on the foundations he planted during his term, while the second has described as « milestone » the recognition of the Palestinian State by Spain.

Although the situation in Venezuela has not gone up to the spot, Zapatero takes advantage of the book to explain its controversial intervention in the crisis of the South American country and its silence before the Maduro regime, which has earned him harsh criticisms. « The case of Venezuela suffers from a serious defect: it develops open on the channel for public opinion. The world is excited by hyperinformation, but the only way to resolve conflicts goes through discretion. »

Faced with those who reproach him not to condemn the fraud of the latest Venezuelan elections, the former president points out that any statement “in one sense or another would have curtailed the possibility of maintaining the dialogue with the parties in the future. This allowed to participate in some efforts that were known,” he adds, in reference to the departure of the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, welcomed in the Spanish embassy in Caracas. « As a mediator, » he concludes, « you must be in a position to dialogue equally with Nicolás Maduro and with Edmundo González and transmit the same degree of confidence. »