2024-02-13 06:13:00
The Spanish Foreign Minister, Jose Manuel Alvares, stated that Madrid will make its own decisions if Europe continues to hesitate in its support for the Palestinians. The minister supports the two-state solution with “a land corridor linking the Gaza Strip to the West Bank and East Jerusalem as the capital.” He called on the donors to return UNRA’s funding
Spain’s foreign minister said that if Europe continues to hesitate in its support for the Palestinians, “as a sovereign country, Spain will make its own decisions.”
Minister Jose Manuel Alvares also said that peace in the Middle East can only be achieved through the establishment of a Palestinian state, “connecting Gaza and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The Spanish diplomat, who has been serving as the European Union’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation since 2021, said these things to the Saudi Arab News channel.
According to Albers, while the 27 member states of the European Union “all want peace in the Middle East with different nuances”. For Spain, on the other hand, the position is “very clear” according to him “Spain wants to see an immediate stop to the Israeli-Hamas conflict, unrestricted humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, and the implementation of the “two-state solution”.
“We call for a permanent ceasefire, immediate release of hostages, immediate access to humanitarian aid and a peace conference that will form the framework (for implementing) the two-state solution,” Albers said. “In the end, we all know that as long as the Palestinian people do not have a state, there will not be a stable Middle East. And we all know that the real solution to this situation in the Middle East and to complete peace is a state with the West Bank and Gaza under one Palestinian Authority with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
He said that Spain intends to increase UNRWA’s contribution to help the collapse of the agency that cooperates with Hamas. “They give food and emergency aid to refugees, so if they collapse, they will not be able to feed these people,” Albers said.
“This is why we decided to increase our contribution to about 3.5 million euros, to make sure that UNRWA can function, and this is what I explain to all my European colleagues.”
Spain is not the only European country to strengthen its support for UNRWA. Ireland and Norway have also renewed their commitment to the agency.
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