Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S socialist-led government under Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has congratulated Donald Trump on his US presidential election victory.
Though there will be private disappointment in Madrid that Democrat and vice-president Kamala Harris lost, the government will have to deal with the controversial figure who will be back in the White House in January 2025 after a four-year gap.
In a social media message, Pedro Sanchez posted in English: “We will work on our strategic bilateral relations and strong transatlantic collaboration.”
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Trump has made it clear that he is no fan of the European Union and that he wants NATO member states like Spain to pain a higher contribution to reduce the US financial commitment to the military alliance.
A Spanish government source said: “It is high time for Europe to take control of its destiny more consistently.”
“We must move forward with more political union. Europe has to get stronger, and Trump’s victory is an incentive to do so.”
The conservative opposition Partido Popular has congratulated Trump on his victory.
PP leader Alberto Nuñez Feijoo said: “My sincere congratulations to Donald Trump.”
“We will work for a better bilateral relationship, with the EU and in NATO.”
The PP’s Deputy Secretary for International Affairs, Esteban Gonzalez Pons said Trump’s victory is ‘an opportunity’ for Europeans due to the fact that ‘a new American Administration begins at the same time as a new European Commission’.
The leader of the far-right Vox Party, Santiago Abascal, was euphoric on social media.
“Today we must also celebrate the importance of the Hispanic vote in this victory of the free world,” he proclaimed.
“It is the time of the patriots. It is the time for freedom,” he added.
