RELATIONS between Spain and fellow European ally Germany have plummeted over the past week as the two countries clash over the German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s apparent reluctance to stand up to President Trump.
Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said he was ‘surprised’ at Germany’s lack of solidarity after Merz sat in silence at the White House while Trump launched a now-infamous rant against Spain.
The US president praised Merz and NATO leader Mark Rutte before slamming Spain over NATO spending and making an unprecedented threat to slash trade over Madrid’s refusal to allow the US to use jointly-operated bases in Andalucia for ongoing attacks on Iran.
“And now Spain actually said that we can’t use their bases, and that’s alright, we don’t want to, we can use their base if we want, we can just fly in and use it,” Trump told a pool spray in the Oval Office.
“So we’re gonna cut off all trade with Spain, we don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
After the meeting, Merz claimed he had chosen not to defend a fellow European Union member state because he did not want to ‘aggravate’ the situation by rebuking Trump in public.
He later told the press that he had informed the president behind closed doors that economic sanctions, such as cutting off all trade, cannot be imposed on a single EU country.
But Merz’s response has done little to quell rising anger in Madrid.
Speaking on Monday in an interview to POLITICO, deputy prime minister Yolanda Diaz accused the German government of being ‘vassals who pay homage to Trump’ and not demonstrating the required ‘leadership’ for the modern era.
Stefan Kornelius, Merz’s spokesperson, sought to downplay the situation, telling POLITICO that ‘the relationship is not tense at all’.
But he admitted that Merz and Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez have not spoken since the German leader visited Washington last weekend.
He said Merz attempted to call Sanchez twice but was unable to reach him because he had the wrong number, with Sanchez changing his number frequently for security reasons.
According to a spokesperson for the Spanish government, the updated contact information has been sent to Berlin, but the pair are still yet to speak.
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