The president of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, distances himself from the first vice president of the Government, Nadia Calviño, about the fact that the European club is concerned about an eventual change in power in Spain. In an official response to EL MUNDO, she declines to pronounce herself in favor of the PSOE and assures her “full respect for the democratic electoral process” in Spain.
Calviño said on Tuesday night on Cadena Ser that “all” his colleagues in the EU Council of Economy and Finance Ministers (Ecofin) trust that Pedro Sánchez will continue in government given the concern they feel for an Executive of PP and Vox.
Calviño’s most significant “partner” in this community forum is the Irishman Donohoe, since, as president of the Eurogroup, he represents the majority of the Ecofin members, which are those that belong to the Eurozone. .
To the express question of this newspaper about whether the president of the Eurogroup shares Calviño’s statements and hopes that the current Government will continue for the good of the Eurozone, the Irishman declines to subscribe to them. “The President of the Eurogroup does not comment on internal electoral issues,” says his spokesperson in an official response to this newspaper. And he assures that his position is one of “full respect for the democratic electoral process.”
This attitude of neutrality contrasts with the vision of the situation expressed the day before by Calviño, who is the current president of Ecofin. Asked on Cadena Ser if there is “concern about a government of PP and Vox”, the first vice president agreed. “All my colleagues from Ecofin, of course, are quite restless and they are all very supportive and very encouraging and all trusting that we will effectively continue to lead the Government, because in these five years we have built day by day with very, very hard work. seriously, because we have recovered the prestige and image of our country”.
Donohoe’s line is the traditional one of the European institutions which avoids interfering in electoral processes and taking sides when, in addition, those who are mainly in contention are two members of the traditional political forces of the EU such as popular and socialist.
Also the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, publicly stated in Madrid at the beginning of the month that she was confident that any government in Spain would exercise the presidency of the EU well without giving importance to a possible change in full mandate. The German spokeswoman also denied this Tuesday “categorically” that she had made derogatory comments about Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Donohoe is a figure respected by Eurozone finance ministers. He beat Calviño herself in the July 2020 vote to become president of the Eurogroup. He was re-elected last November for the position without the Spanish contesting the position. He is a member of the European People’s Party, which is the majority among the Ecofin ministers, which is why Calviño’s statement was surprising. In addition, the key ministers are liberals, the German Christian Lindner and the French Bruno Le Maire.
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