We are not going to discover in this article the bad relationship of the vast majority of the diplomatic class with their “boss” in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A bond that has deteriorated until reaching a present in which José Manuel Albares holds the reins of his portfolio guarded by a tiny group of faithful and without any communication with the rest. Neither with the veterans of the race nor with the majority association that groups them.
However, as LA RAZÓN has been able to verify, the minister’s recent visit to Ceuta and the way in which he has led the response to Morocco has raised criticism and, above all, has intensified the concern of Diplomacy professionals for what they consider to be “terrible management” by a “completely charred” minister. Below, we give voice to three of them who ask to remain anonymous.
In the opinion of a veteran diplomat, who considers what happened as “the most serious event since the Green March” in the bilateral relationship, “if Albares was already burned, this finishes burying it. It is not that it remains charred in this Government, but in the history of Spanish diplomacy. This will always be remembered.”
«It is all very sad and very regrettable. The message that has been sent to Europe is terrible because when the crisis of ’21 happened, Pedro Sánchez went there and clearly said that what had occurred was intolerable and a condemnatory resolution was obtained from the European Parliament. In this case, as it has been insisted that the crisis is migratory and that Morocco collaborates as much as possible, the opportunity has been given to 22 countries that were very dissatisfied with the massive regularization to show the loneliness of the Government in the EU,” he continues.
The same source believes that the political “harmful effects” of this administration “will be on par with what happened when it was said that the cause of 11-M had been ETA.” “Saying that it was not Morocco’s fault, that it is a loyal partner and that the situation has already normalized thanks to them, will have consequences just as dissolving and harmful as what happened in 2004.”
A second member of the race assures that “this Government should encourage a visit by King Felipe VI to the city as soon as possible.” In his opinion, the most worrying thing is the level of “deep ignorance of the region that the Foreign Minister has demonstrated. And in the rest of the Government, in Moncloa and in the Ministry, in the command positions there is no one who really knows what this dossier is about.
The mere presence of Albares in the autonomous city, the first of a Foreign Minister in history, is unprecedented to the last interlocutor. “Spain has always ruled out any action or movement that could make it appear that this is a matter of international litigation.” Assuming that the visit addresses the need to calm European partners in the face of the serious situation on a community border, the same source expresses its “stupor” at the minister’s statements when he assured that each and every one of the migrants would cross back to Moroccan soil.
«The diplomats accredited in Spain are good professionals. They don’t just listen to the Foreign Ministers, they listen to other ministers, political leaders and they see everything that is published. That is why it is incredible that he said that it was an immigration problem caused by the mafias and that everyone would return to where they came from. If your European partners trust you, because you say things that you know you can deliver, you generate trust, but if you say things like that, the effect is the opposite.