Argentina’s president Javier Milei gestures as he delivers a speech on stage during the Spanish far-right wing party Vox’s rally “Europa Viva 24″ in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Argentina’s fiery libertarian president, Javier Milei, who was welcomed like a star amidst chants of “Freedom,” used the spotlight to bash Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s socialist prime minster, and his wife — something unthinkable for most heads of state visiting a historic ally.
“They don’t know what type of society and country (socialism) can produce and what kind of people chained to power and what levels of abuse it can generate,” Milei said in his speech, before weighing in on the corruption allegations against Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez.
“Even if he has a corrupt wife, he gets dirty and takes five days to think about it,” he said, referring to the time Sánchez took considering whether to step down after the accusations came to light.
In response, the Spanish government demanded an apology from Milei and said it was recalling its ambassador from Buenos Aires over the remarks, which Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares condemned as bringing “relations between Spain and Argentina to the most grave point in our recent history.”
“To hospitality and good faith, he responded with a frontal attack on our democracy, on our institutions and on Spain,” Albares said.
A supporter holds a Spansh flag during the Spanish far-right wing party Vox’s rally “Europa Viva 24″ in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Over the course of Sunday’s event, supporters who packed the Palacio de Vistalegre arena cheered messages against the European Green Deal and in favor of farm workers, whose protests brought several cities in the continent to a standstill in recent months. They also applauded every speaker’s message in solidarity with Israel in its devastating war against Hamas in Gaza following the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack.
Israel was represented at the meeting by its Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of Hungary and the former prime minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, also spoke from a video screen.
Meanwhile hundreds of left-wing activists were demonstrating against fascism in Madrid’s city center.
“I am here because in Vistalegre we have a summit of hate and we must fight against fascists,” said Frank Erbroder, a Polish activist at the gathering. “I am worried because Hitler won because of democracy, and I think that maybe we’ll have the same situation.”
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Associated Press writers Iain Sullivan and Alicia León in Madrid and Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s global elections coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/
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Publish date : 2024-05-19 07:00:00
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