The former president of the Government Mariano Rajoy (PP) and the former socialist minister and former vice president of the European Commission Joaquín Almunia reflected this Wednesday on the challenges to governing the world today, such as the threat of populism, fake news, the war in Ukraine or the dispute between China and the United States for world hegemony. The former popular leader has assured that Europe cannot “sublet” its security to the United States and that it is necessary for countries to “recover some sovereignty.” Both have agreed that liberal democracies are going through a crisis for “not having known how to provide answers to society’s problems”, and have warned of the danger of a possible rise of ultras in the European elections this summer. The meeting took place at the Telefónica Foundation, in the center of Madrid, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of Thinking Heads, a consulting firm specialized in leadership, in a series of conferences in which, among others, the vice president of the Government, María, also participated. Jesús Montero, and the president of the Council of State, Carmen Calvo.
In a relaxed debate between Rajoy and Almunia, the former president warned regarding the crisis of principles that liberal democracies are going through, with special mention of a European Union more threatened than ever. One of the most notable points of the conversation has been the concept of sovereignty in the face of the imminent European elections. Almunia has argued that European democracy is not perfect, and that one aspect to improve would be if authentic European political families began to exist, “instead of national parties that present themselves to European ones.” Despite everything, the former minister has maintained that Europe represents the “world benchmark” in terms of the well-being generated in the world, something that is not always shared internationally. “They have stopped seeing European liberal democracy as an indisputable reference. It is our responsibility to regain followers and export our model to countries in the Global South.”
Rajoy, for his part, has argued that one of the reasons to explain the crisis of faith in liberal democracies arose from the Great Recession. “Liberal democracies have not known how to respond to some of society’s problems, and from there arise populisms that proclaim solutions but then do not know how to govern or solve anything.” And given the rise of the extreme right and the possible pacts of the hegemonic parties to form a government with the ultras, the former conservative president recalled that the EU was born from the union of two great political forces, the popular ones and the social democrats. “There may be companions, but if we break the rules, we don’t know what will happen.”
One of the keys for both politicians in the reserve is to recover sovereignty so that Europe once once more becomes relevant in the international arena in the face of the rise of external threats such as China and Russia. Rajoy and Almunia have agreed in arguing that Europe must aspire to something more than “subleasing” security to the United States, especially in the face of a possible return of Trump to the White House that would make the United States stop being a reliable partner for the Europeans. “We must strengthen the Atlantic alliance, but with guarantees for Europe. If Biden wins, we can trust this partner, but if Trump wins, we already have enough evidence to distrust,” Almunia explained.
Although Rajoy made it clear that he had not come to “bother anyone” and tried to avoid current political events, he left a hint for the current Spanish Government and its pacts with the Catalan independence movement. “Some are beginning to believe that democracy is voting and little else. Without law, there is no democracy. If someone wants to call a referendum, they have to do so respecting the law. If not, this is the law of the jungle, that of the strongest.”
What affects the most is what happens closest. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
to continue reading
_
