LIVE: Spain's PM Pedro Sanchez Delivers Address After Trump Vows to Cut All Trade With Spain | N18G

What we can glimpse is more economic uncertainty, rising oil and gas prices. That is why, from Spain, we are against this disaster, because we understand that governments are here to improve people's lives, to provide solutions to problems, not to make people's lives worse. And it is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are incapable of fulfilling that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure and, in passing, fill the pockets of a few. The usual ones, the only ones who win when the world stops building hospitals to build missiles. Faced with this situation, the progressive coalition government is going to do the same thing it has done in other conflicts and international crises. First, we are assisting the Spaniards who are in the Middle East and we are going to help them return to our country if that, of course, is their wish. The foreign service and the army are working day and night to set up evacuation devices. It is evident that the operations are very delicate because the region's airspace is not safe and because its airport network is severely affected by the attacks. But our compatriots can be certain that we are going to protect them and that we are going to bring them back home. Second, the government of Spain is studying scenarios and possible measures to help households, workers, companies, and the self-employed so that they can mitigate the economic impacts of this conflict if necessary. Thanks to the dynamism of our economy and also thanks to the responsibility of the government's fiscal policy, Spain currently has the necessary resources to face this crisis again. We have the capacity, also the political will, and we will do it hand in hand with the social partners as we did during the pandemic, the energy crisis, or recently the tariff crisis. Third, we are going to collaborate, as we have always done, with all the countries in the region that advocate for peace and compliance with international law, which are two sides of the same coin, supporting them with the diplomatic and also material resources that are required. We are going to work with our European allies on a coordinated response that can be definitively effective. And we are going to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and Palestine. Two places that deserve not to be forgotten. And finally, the government is going to continue demanding a cessation of hostilities and a diplomatic resolution to this war. And I also want to make it explicit because yes, the right word is demand, because Spain is a full member of the European Union, NATO, and the International Community. And because this crisis also affects us, Europeans, and consequently Spaniards. And that is why we have to demand a resolution from the United States, Iran, and Israel so that they stop before it is too late. I have said it many times and I repeat it now, you cannot respond to one illegality with another because that is how the great disasters of humanity begin. Let us remember how before the start of the First World War in the 20th century, in August 1914, someone asked the then Chancellor of Germany how the First World War had started and he replied, shrugging his shoulders and saying verbatim, 'I wish I knew, I wish I knew.' Very often, great wars break out due to a chain of responses that get out of hand because of miscalculations, technical failures, unforeseen events. Therefore, we must learn from history and we cannot play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions of people. The powers involved in this conflict must immediately cease hostilities and bet on dialogue and diplomacy. And the rest of us must act coherently, defending now the same values that we defend when we talk about Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela, or Greenland. Because the question is not whether we are for or against the Ayatollahs. No one is. Certainly, the Spanish people are not, and of course, neither is the government of Spain. The question, instead, is whether we are on the side of international law and, therefore, of peace. The Spanish citizenry always repudiated the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but that did not mean they supported the Iraq war, because it was illegal, because it was unjust, and because it did not provide a real resolution to almost any of the problems it sought to solve. In the same way, we repudiate the regime of Iran, which represses, vilely kills its citizens, particularly women, but at the same time we reject this conflict and ask for a diplomatic and political solution. Some will accuse us of being naive for doing so, but what is naive is thinking that the solution is violence. It is naive to believe that democracies or respect between nations sprout from the ruins, or to think that practicing blind and servile followership is a way to lead. On the contrary, I believe that this position is not at all naive, it is coherent, and therefore we are not going to be accomplices to something that is bad for the world and that is also contrary to our values and interests simply out of fear of reprisals from someone. Because we have absolute confidence in the economic, institutional, and I would also say moral strength of our country. And because in moments like this we feel prouder than ever to be Spanish. We are aware of the difficulties, but we also know that the future is not written, that the spiral of violence that many already take for granted is absolutely avoidable, and that humanity can still leave behind this... and also the misery of war. Some will say that we are alone in this hope, but that is not true either. The government of Spain is with whom it has to be, it is with the values that our parents and grandparents established in our Constitution. Spain is with the founding principles of the European Union, it is with the United Nations Charter, it is with international law, and therefore it is with peace and the peaceful existence between countries and their coexistence. We are also with many other governments that think like us and also with millions of citizens who throughout Europe, North America, and the Middle East, what they ask for tomorrow is not more war or more uncertainty, but more peace and more prosperity, because the former only benefits a few and the latter benefits us all. Thank you very much.

It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are incapable of fulfilling that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure and, in passing, fill the pockets of a few, the usual ones, the only ones who win when the world stops building hospitals to build missiles. Faced with this situation, the progressive coalition government is going to do the same thing it has done in other conflicts and international crises. First, we are assisting the Spanish citizens who are in the Middle East and we are going to help them return to our country if that is, of course, their wish. The foreign service and the army are working day and night to put evacuation systems in place. It is evident that the operations are very delicate because the region's airspace is not safe and because its airport network is seriously affected by the attacks. But our compatriots can be certain that we are going to protect them and that we are going to bring them back home. Second, the Government of Spain is studying scenarios and possible measures to help households, workers, companies, and the self-employed to mitigate the economic impacts of this conflict if necessary. Thanks to the dynamism of our economy and also thanks to the responsibility of the government's fiscal policy, Spain currently has the necessary resources to face this crisis again. We have the capacity, also the political will, and we will do it hand in hand with the social partners as we did during the pandemic, the energy crisis, or more recently the tariff crisis. Third, we are going to collaborate, as we have always done, with all the countries in the region that advocate for peace and for compliance with international law, which are two sides of the same coin, supporting them with the diplomatic and also material resources that are required. We are going to work with our European allies in a coordinated response that can be definitively effective. And we are going to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and in Palestine. Two places that deserve not to be forgotten. And finally, the government is going to continue demanding a cessation of hostilities and a diplomatic resolution to this war. And I also want to make it explicit because yes, the appropriate word is to demand, because Spain is a full member of the European Union, NATO, and the international community. And because this crisis also affects us, Europeans, and consequently the Spanish. And that is why we have to demand that the United States, Iran, and Israel find a resolution before it is too late. I have said it on many occasions and I repeat it now: you cannot respond to one illegality with another, because that is how the great disasters of humanity begin. Let us remember how before the start of the First Great World War in the 20th century, in August 1914, someone asked the then Chancellor of Germany how the First World War had begun, and he shrugged his shoulders and said, word for word, 'I wish I knew, I wish I knew.' Very often, great wars break out due to a concatenation of responses that get out of hand due to miscalculations, technical failures, unforeseen events. Therefore, we must learn from history and we cannot play Russian roulette with the fate of millions of people. The powers involved in this conflict must immediately cease hostilities and opt for dialogue and diplomacy. And the rest of us must act with coherence, defending now the same values we defend when we talk about Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela, or Greenland. Because the question is not whether we are in favor of the Ayatollahs or not. No one is. The Spanish people are certainly not, and of course neither is the Government of Spain. The question, instead, is whether we are on the side of international law and therefore of peace. The Spanish citizenship always repudiated the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but that did not make them support the Iraq war, because it was illegal, because it was unjust, and because it did not provide a real solution to almost any of the problems it claimed to solve. In the same way, we repudiate the regime of Iran, which represses, vilely kills its citizens, particularly women, but at the same time we reject this conflict and ask for a diplomatic and political solution. Some will accuse us of being naive for doing so, but what is naive is to think that the solution is violence. It is naive to believe that democracies or respect among nations sprout from the ruins, or to think that practicing blind and servile followership is a form of leadership. On the contrary, I believe that this position is not at all naive, it is coherent, and therefore we are not going to be accomplices of something that is bad for the world and that is also contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of reprisals from someone. Because we have absolute confidence in the economic, institutional, and also, I would say, moral strength of our country. And because in moments like this we feel prouder than ever to be Spanish. We are aware of the difficulties, but we also know that the future is not written, that the spiral of violence that many already take for granted is absolutely avoidable, and that humanity can still leave behind this and also the misery of war. Some will say we are alone in this hope, but that is not true either. The government of Spain is with whom it must be, it is with the values that our parents and grandparents set in our Constitution. Spain is with the founding principles of the European Union, it is with the United Nations Charter, it is with international law and therefore it is with peace and the peaceful existence between countries and their coexistence. We are also with many other governments that think like us and also with millions of citizens throughout Europe, North America, and the Middle East, who ask for tomorrow not more war or more uncertainty, but more peace and more prosperity, because the first only benefits a few and the second benefits us all. Thank you very much.

In international crises. First of all, we are assisting the Spaniards who are in the Middle East, and we are going to help them return to our country if that, of course, is their wish. The foreign service and the army are working day and night to organize evacuation devices. It is obvious that the operations are very delicate because the region's airspace is not safe and because its airport network is severely affected by the attacks. But our compatriots can be certain that we are going to protect them and that we are going to bring them back home. Second, the government of Spain is studying scenarios and possible measures to help households, workers, companies, and the self-employed, so that they can thereby mitigate the economic impacts of this conflict if necessary. Thanks to the dynamism of our economy and also thanks to the responsibility of the government's fiscal policy, Spain currently has the resources needed to face this crisis again. We have the capacity, also the political will, and we will do it hand in hand with the social partners, as we did during the pandemic, the energy crisis, or the recent tariff crisis. Third, we are going to collaborate, as we have always done, with all the countries in the region that advocate for peace and for compliance with international legality, which are two sides of the same coin, supporting them with the diplomatic and also material resources that are required. We are going to work with our European allies in a coordinated response that can be definitively effective. And we are going to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and Palestine. Two places that deserve not to be forgotten. And finally, the government is going to continue demanding a cessation of hostilities and a diplomatic resolution to this war. And I want to make it explicit because yes, the appropriate word is demand, because Spain is a full member of the European Union, NATO, and the International Community. And because this crisis also affects us, Europeans, and consequently Spaniards. And therefore we have to demand a resolution from the United States, Iran, Israel for them to stop before it is too late, involving diplomatic resolution demands, I mean the eh the eh There is hesitation filler removed: resolution eh before it is} … I have said it on many occasions and I repeat it now: you cannot respond to one illegality with another, because that is how great human disasters begin, such as World War I --- Let us remember how before the start [World War I in August 1914 someone asked the then Chancellor of Germany how World War I had begun and he replied shrugging his shoulders and saying literally, 'I wish I knew. I wish I knew.' Very often great wars break out due to a concatenation of responses that get out of hand because of miscalculations, technical failures. unforeseen events. Therefore, we must learn from history and we cannot play Russian roulette with the destiny of millions of people. The powers involved in this conflict must immediately cease hostilities and bet on dialogue and diplomacy. And the rest of us must act coherently, defending now the same values ​​that we defend when we talk about Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela, or Greenland. Because the question is not whether we are for or against the Ayatollahs. No one is. Certainly the Spanish people are not, and of course the government of Spain is not. The question, instead, is whether we are on the side of international legality and, therefore, of peace. Spanish citizens always repudiated the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, but they did not for that reason support the Iraq war, because it was illegal, because it was unjust, and because it did not provide a real solution to almost any of the problems it claimed to resolve. In the same way, we repudiate the regime of Iran, which represses, basely murders its citizens, particularly women, but at the same time we reject this conflict and ask for a diplomatic and political solution. Some will accuse us of being naive for doing so, but it is naive to think that the solution is violence. Naive is believing that democracies or respect between nations spring from ruins. Or thinking that practicing blind and servile followership is a form of leadership. On the contrary, I believe that this position is not at all naive, it is coherent and therefore we are not going to be accomplices to something that is bad for the world and that is also contrary to our values and interests, simply for fear of reprisals from someone. Because we have absolute confidence in the economic, institutional, and I would also say moral strength of our country. And because in moments like this we feel prouder than ever to be Spanish. We are aware of the difficulties, but we also know that the future is not written, that the spiral of violence that many already take for granted is absolutely avoidable, and that humanity can still leave behind this integration (likely 'integration' misheard for 'escalation' or 'hatred') and the misery of war. Some will say that we are alone in this hope, but that is not true either. The government of Spain is with whom it has to be, it is with the values that our parents and grandparents established in our Constitution. Spain is with the founding principles of the European Union, it is with the United Nations Charter, it is with international law, and therefore it is with peace and the peaceful existence between countries and their coexistence. We are also with many other governments that think like us, and also with millions of citizens who in all of Europe, North America, and the Middle East, what they ask for tomorrow is not more war or more uncertainty, but more peace and more prosperity, because the former only benefits a few, and the latter benefits us all. Thank you very much.