The only exception in Izquierda Unida will be the Minister of Justice, Alberto Garzón, who opts for abstention
IU deputies in the Congress will vote this Thursday against the entry of Sweden and Finland in the NATO except for the case of its federal coordinator and Minister of Justice, Alberto Garzónwho will opt for abstentionlike the rest of the confederal group.
The meaning of the vote of the IU parliamentarians has been debated and decided by the federal leadership, as explained by training sources, and will be reflected in the Plenary that addresses the accession protocol of the two countries. In this way, the IU representatives without executive responsibilities (Enrique Santiago, Roser Maestro, Miguel Ángel Bustamante and José Luis Bueno) will oppose the entry of both Scandinavian nations into NATO while Garzón, who is a member of the Government, will opt for abstention.
From IU they have explained that the debate within the confederal group on the meaning of the vote has developed with “total normality and understanding” between the different formations that make it up” and according to their operating protocols.
The formation already slipped last Monday, through its federal spokesperson Sira Rego, who was not going to support the measure but did not reveal the meaning of his vote, although he explained that IU has been shown andn against the Atlantic Alliance, historical position that flag since its birth.
We can downplay it
For its part, Podemos has opted for abstention given that, on the one hand, they defend a greater strategic autonomy of the EU without subordination to the interests of the United States and, on the other, they respect the sovereign decision of both community countries.
This morning the spokesman for United We Can, Pablo Echeniquehas downplayed in statements to TVE, that the two forces of the coalition Executive differ in the direction of their vote on this issue (because the PSOE will support this accession) and has recalled that in other votes they have already voted differently.
Congress will endorse this Thursday the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO. The two agreements were sent to Parliament in the Council of Ministers on August 1, but until last week they could not be qualified by the Congress Table because the two summer months are outside the regular session period. For now speed up the processthe accession protocols have been processed in Congress by the urgent procedure and in a single reading, that is, with a single debate in the Plenary that will take place this Thursday, without the need to go through the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber .