Foreign policy of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
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Foreign policy of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero concerns the foreign policy of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the Prime Minister of Spain since April 2004.
His predecessor José María Aznar created a foreign policy based on a strong alliance with the United States and a peripheral strategy within the European Union while Zapatero has chosen to focus on a centrist European Union strategy based on good relations with France and Germany as well as developing good relations with Latin America where Spain has huge investments. Aznar supported the Iraq war and his relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba were poor and were not much better with Hugo Chávez's Venezuela. Zapatero opposed the Iraq war before being elected, favoring a multilateral world, with the United Nations playing a fundamental role. He has also affirmed his view that a strict respect for international law is essential for keeping the peace.
Zapatero proposed an Alliance of Civilizations to solve the current conflicts between different cultural zones in the world, especially terrorism.
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[edit] Areas of foreign policy action
[edit] Iraq
Before being elected, xxZapatero opposed the American policy in regard to Iraq pursued by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar. During the electoral campaign Zapatero had promised to withdraw the troops if control in Iraq was not passed to the United Nations after June 30 (the ending date of the initial Spanish military agreement with the multinational coalition that had overthrown Saddam Hussein). Zapatero declared that he did not intend to withdraw the Spanish troops before that date after being questioned about the issue by the People's Party's leader Mariano Rajoy in his inauguration parliamentary debate as Prime Minister.
On April 19, 2004 Zapatero announced the withdrawal of the 1300 Spanish troops in Iraq ([1]).
The decision aroused both international criticism and support worldwide, critics fearing that the terrorists could perceive it as a victory obtained thanks to the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, with critics arguing that it was the policy pursued by Aznar that encouraged terrorism. The then Democratic party candidate for the American Presidency, John Kerry asked Zapatero not to retire the Spanish soldiers. Some months after retiring the troops, the Zapatero government agreed to increase the number of Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan and to send troops to Haiti to show the Spanish Government's willingness to spend resources on international missions of which it approved.
On June 8, 2004, with the withdrawal already complete, Zapatero's government voted in the UN Security Council in favor of the Resolution 1546 where the following could be read:
- "The Security Council, Recognizing the importance of international support [...] for the people of Iraq [...], Affirming the importance of international assistance in reconstruction and development of the Iraqi economy [...],
- 15. Requests Member States and international and regional organizations to contribute assistance to the multinational force, including military forces, as agreed with the Government of Iraq, to help meet the needs of the Iraqi people for security and stability, humanitarian and reconstruction assistance, and to support the efforts of UNAMI;"
Later, during a visit to Tunisia, Zapatero asked all of the countries with troops in Iraq to withdraw their soldiers. This declaration moved the U.S. president George W. Bush to send an angry letter to the Spanish premier.
[edit] Latin America
On taking office, Zapatero attempted to reinvigorate the ailing "Cumbres Iberoamericanas", a movement to unite the Portuguese and Spanish speaking countries of Latin America and Europe. An important change in Spanish foreign policy was Zapatero's decision to approach left-wing leaders such as Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez. Zapatero has played an important role in the improvement of relations between the Cuban government and the European Union, urging more dialogue .[1] Zapatero also moved to relax the sanctions that the EU placed on Cuba in 2003 in response to the imprisonment of 75 dissidents in June of that year.[2]
At the end of March 2005, Zapatero traveled to Venezuela to draw a deal to sell Hugo Chávez's regime military ship and aircraft worth around US$1000 million. The decision was criticized by both the American government and the People's Party.
After the election of Evo Morales in Bolivia, Spain was one of the countries the new president visited during his first international tour.
[edit] United States
The relations between José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and George W. Bush have been difficult. Even before he was elected, Zapatero caused controversy by refusing to stand as the American flag went by during a 2003 Columbus Day (Spain's national day) military parade, in protest for the war in Iraq.
Zapatero publicly stated his support for John Kerry as a candidate running in the American Presidential Election in November 2004. After the election took place, Bush did not return Zapatero's congratulation phone call though the White House firmly denied that Bush's intention was to snub the Spanish prime minister. [2]) Meanwhile Zapatero has repeatedly insisted that Spain's relations with the United States are good.
[edit] European Union
Zapatero's predecessor, José María Aznar, defended the combination of a strong alliance with the United States with a peripheral European strategy where Spain would emphasize its friendship with less central European countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom or Poland in order to compensate French and German power.
Zapatero has changed this policy to focus mainly on France and Germany to try and form, alongside Spain, a strong block opposed to American preponderance and aimed at directing European destiny. According to Zapatero's supporters the new policy will consist in fostering the Spanish links with the core European countries.
In the writing of what was to be the European Constitution Zapatero accepted the distribution of power proposed by countries such as Germany and France. After signing the treaty in Rome together with other leaders, he decided to call for a referendum, which was held on February 20, 2005. It was the first in Europe, a fact highly publicized by Zapatero's government. The turnout was the lowest in Spanish history, only 41%. Of those voters, 75% voted in favor of the European Constitution, which had been defended by the most important parties (including the Socialist Party and the People's Party) [3] but was then given the touich of death when France voted to reject it months later in its own referendum.
[edit] France and Germany
On March 1, 2005, Zapatero became the first Spanish prime minister to speak to the French National Assembly.
Zapatero directly supported the SPD candidate, former Chancellor Schröder, before the German election of September 18, 2005. He also declared that Angela Merkel, the Christian Democrat candidate, would never become the Chancellor (Kanzler) of Germany, and called her "Merkel the failure". According to some opinions, that might incident have affected German-Spanish relationships negatively.
[edit] Gibraltar
Zapatero initially took a strong line with the United Kingdom, complaining at Gibraltar's celebrations for the tercentenary of its independence from Spain and rejecting the Gibraltarians' requests for Spain to recognize its right to self-determination.
At the end of 2004, Zapatero decided to change his policy and to become the first Spanish prime minister to accept the participation of Gibraltar as a partner on the same level as Spain and the United Kingdom in the discussions both countries hold regularly about the colony. The decision was criticized as a surrender of the Spanish rights to sovereignty over the British colony by the Spanish opposition. Zapatero justified it as a new way to solve a 300 hundred years old problem.
[edit] Israel and Palestine
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Spain and Cuba in expulsion row. BBC News.
- ^ Spain’s Zapatero Emerges as a Bold New Foreign Policy Factor in Latin America Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Speech in Spanish of José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero by which he announced the withdrawal of the Spanish troops in Iraq
- Copy of the editorial of the Wall Street Journal "The Accidental Prime Minister", 25 November 2004, that summarizes the point of view held in the United States by those opposing José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
