Spain’s Sánchez laments potential for ‘planetary annihilation’

MADRID — Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez sees little room for optimism regarding today’s world. “At the end of this path lies another world war,” the Socialist wrote in today’s edition of the U.S. publication Foreign Affairs.

In an op-ed that encapsulates his government’s foreign policy views, Sánchez said the erosion of multilateralism is “multiplying the chances that any crisis will quickly spiral into planetary annihilation.”

According to most polls, Sánchez is set to lose power after the Nov. 29 snap election in his country, with right-wing and far-right parties expected to win a majority in parliament. In the op-ed he defended his government’s recent actions, such as Madrid’s decision earlier this year to deny Washington the use of Spanish bases in its war against Iran.

It “was not an act of hostility toward an ally. Nor was it an expression of neutrality or sympathy for the Iranian regime,” Sánchez wrote. Instead, the decision was “a judgement that getting involved would enable escalation.”

Sánchez added that “to keep its commitment to peace, Spain had to be willing to say no, even when doing so carried a political cost.”

“Had more countries done the same, the wars in Gaza and Iran would have been far harder and costlier to wage,” the prime minister speculated, holding up the Spanish government he has led since 2018 as an example to be followed.

The Socialist also criticized the war-readiness strategy the European Union has recently endorsed, noting that “even centrist leaders are embracing the language of war preparedness.”

“Although they do not intend to start a war, their words feed a dangerous militaristic mindset,” the prime minister added.

Sánchez grounded his opposition to war in decades of Spanish civil society activism against armed conflict, flagging the ¡No a la guerra! (“No to war!”) protests in Spain from when the conservative government of José María Aznar backed the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

“The world cannot afford to ignore them again,” wrote Sánchez, who claims to have taken part in the demonstrations.

In the article Sánchez was skeptical of ad hoc solutions such as the Coalition of the Willing, a group of 34 countries that have promised enhanced aid to Ukraine, ascribing such initiatives to the ineffectiveness of multilateralism.

Instead, pitching himself as a champion of peace and small and mid-sized powers, he called for reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council, which “does not reflect today’s world.”

He urged that the veto powers of the Council’s permanent members be strictly limited, especially in cases involving “mass atrocities, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,” and advocated the eventual elimination of the veto.

He also proposed that the terms of the Council’s non-permanent members be extended and that seats be awarded primarily to countries from Africa and Latin America.

Finally, Sánchez supported the election of a woman as U.N. secretary-general.