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Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Wednesday accused German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of failing to show “solidarity” with Madrid in the face of criticism from US President Donald Trump.
Albares told broadcaster RTVE that he had communicated his “surprise” over the chancellor’s response to Trump’s tirade against Spain in a White House meeting on Tuesday.
“When you share a currency, a common trade policy and a common market with another country, you expect the same solidarity that Spain showed towards Denmark, for example, when there were customs threats over the desire to remove Denmark’s territorial integrity in Greenland,” Albares said.
The comments came after the US president said the Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has been “terrible” during the escalating conflict in the Middle East.
“Spain actually said we can’t use their bases,” Trump said, drawing silence from Merz.
Trump said he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt “all deals” with Madrid. It was unclear which agreements Trump was referring to, but he further raised Spain’s opposition to raising defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.
“They wanted to keep it at 2 per cent and they don’t pay the 2 per cent so we’re going to cut off all trade with Spain,” Trump said. “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.”
In response, Sanchez doubled down on his opposition to the escalating attacks in the Middle East on Wednesday, declaring “no to war” in a televised address.
Merz told reporters following his White House meeting that Spain was a member of the European Union and any trade negotiations with the US must be conducted collectively or not at all. He stressed there was no way to single out Spain for punitive treatment.
“I told him very clearly: You cannot conclude an isolated agreement with Germany, or an agreement with all of Europe but excluding Spain. We are all in the same boat here,” Merz told German broadcaster ARD.
The remarks do not appear to have appeased the Spanish foreign minister, however.
Albares drew a comparison between Merz and his predecessors in office.
“Since we have been in government, we have had three chancellors: Merkel, Scholz and now Merz. I cannot imagine Merkel or Scholz making such statements; at that time, there was a different pro-European mood,” he said.


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The comments came after the US president said the Spanish government has been ‘terrible’ during the escalating conflict in the Middle East


The comments came after the US president said the Spanish government has been ‘terrible’ during the escalating conflict in the Middle East.


Germany’s Merz lacked ‘solidarity’ amid silence during Trump attacks: Spain

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The comments came after the US president said the Spanish government has been ‘terrible’ during the escalating conflict in the Middle East

The comments came after the US president said the Spanish government has been ‘terrible’ during the escalating conflict in the Middle East