Rajoy Faces Backlash
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares accused former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of expressing ‘racist and xenophobic sentiments’ about France’s national football team in Brussels on Monday.
“I am not a judge, but of course that phrase conceals something terrible,” Albares said. “It is not only hurtful, but extraordinarily dangerous. We cannot allow it. We cannot allow that under phrases spoken in such a way, which seem to conceal, deep down, directly or indirectly, racist and xenophobic sentiments.”
Rajoy sparked anger in Spain and France after writing in a column for El Debate that France had a top-level squad, ‘but without French players’. The article was published ahead of Tuesday’s World Cup semi-final between Spain and France.
Calls For Apology
The minister demanded that the leader of the main opposition Popular Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, renounce Rajoy’s comments and that the article be retracted.
“France, alongside Spain, is a driving force of European construction. We share values. The Popular Party is acting against all of that. Going against all of that is nothing more and nothing less than a former Prime Minister. I respect the figures of former Prime Ministers immensely, but I also demand responsibility from them in how they conduct themselves and what they say,” Albares said.
Feijoo and Rajoy share a long-standing political and personal relationship within the party. Feijoo had not publicly responded to Albares’ demand at the time of publication.
France Rejects Remarks
French officials also condemned Rajoy’s remarks, with Interior Minister Laurent Nunez calling them unacceptable and describing France as a diverse country where everyone could find their place.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said national belonging should not be judged by a person’s ‘surname, place of birth, or skin colour’.
Article by Viory
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