Yesterday, on the Spanish Parliament, there was a kind of debate between Mr. Zapatero, Spain’s Prime Minister, and Mr. Rajoy, leader of the opposition party, the PP (Partido Popular). The issue was the announcement last week, by the Spanish Defence Minister Mrs. Chacón, of the exit of the Spanish troops in Kosovo.

Firstly, I have to say that, since Spain did not recognize the independence of Kosovo, Spanish troops should never been present on this piece of European land. But the government of Mr. Zapatero, for not upseting again Mr. Bush Administration, had to make grants regarding this. Thus, the Spanish presence in Kosovo is not coherent with the Spanish position of not recognizing Kosovo.

But the announcement was done without communicating this to any country or institution involved in the mission: nor the NATO, nor any Spanish allies such as Italy, Germany, France, Poland and, most important, the Unites States. This was something close to a TV announcement, in which Mr. Chacón wanted to appear on the Spanish news saying something that, supposedly, will have a good reception by the Spanish people. Not counting with anybody. I frankly criticize not only the gesture, but also the decision. The original decision of keeping the Spanish troops in Kosovo.

The debate yesterday was clear. Mrs. Chacón was wrong and committed a big mistake. Instead of  assuming this mistake, Mr. Zapatero used as an argument to attack the opposition two facts that happened on the government of Mr. Aznar: the supposedly Spanish presence on the Iraq war, and the Perejil affair, in which Morocco occupied this Spanish little island on the Mediterranean sea, which was reconquered by the Spanish army some days later.

About the first fact, I will only say that I was and I am proud about the Spanish support to the Iraq war. Spain did never played before a such highest role in the international arena. And, more specifically, the Spanish troops, as opposed to what is constantly said by the leftists in Spain (including Mr. Zapatero and its party, the PSOE) never collaborated in the war itself, but only were involved in the post-war, and only in terms of support. Let me remember that the decision of retreating the Spanish troops of Iraq, took by Mr. Zapatero on his first days on the Spanish government in 2.004, was the key point to degrading Spain as a key player on the international arena. Not only by the decision itself, but also because of Mr. Zapatero effort in encouraging the retreat of other countries from Iraq. This, together with the previous offenses to the American nation, leads USA to look to other countries, such as Morocco, as the real alternative to Spain. Now, Morocco is the key in this region, and Spain has lost all the credibility both in the European Union and also in the international arena. As a result, Mr. Zapatero did not never had any personal meeting with Mr. Bush in the whole time.

Regarding the Perejil affair, needles to say that if Mr. Zapatero is arguing that this was not good solved by Mr. Aznar, then… what was the good solution? Will Mr. Zapatero, in a similar situation, act by leaving this land to the invader country? Will Mr. Zapatero negotiate about a piece of land which is Spanish? I frankly doubt of Mr. Zapatero ability to handle situations such this, specially taking into account that, when Mr. Zapatero visited Morocco, he was photographed with a map in his back in which the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla were located into Moroccan land.

Taking all of this into account, seems to me that the Spanish international policy is driven by two elements: cowardice, and the policy of appeasement. A policy that is taken individually, senseless, and that leads Spain to talk tête-by-tête with countries such as Liberia, Venezuela (that sometimes humiliates Spanish interests), Cuba and other related countries.

Mr. Zapatero, a degraded version of Mr. Chamberlain on the 21st century.

Technorati Tags: Zapatero, Rajoy, Aznar, Irak, Perejil, Chamberlain, Bush, Morocco, Marruecos

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