Reference News Network, March 13 report: On January 30, the British magazine "New Statesman" website published an article titled "Pedro Sánchez: A Symbol of European Left", written by Adam Lashmar. The full text is as follows:

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez knows the weight of his words and his message is precise and rigorous. As the leader of one of the most progressive governments in the West and a rare European who has always been brave enough to stand up to US President Trump, this soft-spoken man has seen his popularity rise sharply. "We are a pro-Atlantic government," Sánchez told me, "but that does not mean submission."

Clear Foreign Policy Stance

Most European leaders have responded with little reaction to the US actions in Venezuela. However, Sánchez quickly condemned the forced control of Maduro as "a violation of international law" within hours, and then joined Latin American leaders in condemning the plundering of Venezuela's resources after Trump claimed the US would seize Venezuela's oil.

What makes Sánchez stand out perhaps most is his position on the Gaza issue. Spain announced its recognition of the State of Palestine in 2024, and Sánchez is the highest-ranking European leader to use the term "genocide" to describe the war in Gaza. While other leaders were vague, he announced several measures, including banning Spanish ports and airspace from being used to transport fuel or weapons to Israeli forces, in an effort to increase pressure on the Israeli government. He clearly agrees with the idea that Western leaders apply "double standards" to the Gaza issue, and he told me, "In contrast, we have been consistent, we have always been consistent."

These foreign policy positions have received good reactions domestically in Spain. Sánchez also contributes to his country in other ways. Spain is one of the fastest-growing major economies in Europe, and he continues to argue for the reasonableness of immigration policies in humanitarian and economic terms, despite mainstream conservative and social democratic parties adopting right-wing nationalist rhetoric.

Have Spain's positions been ignored? What can other European leaders learn from Sánchez's clear left-wing stance? His chief of staff, Diego Ruvió, told me, "We believe that most progressive governments in the Western world have failed or are failing because they are too conservative. I don't mean they are too right-wing: they are afraid of doing what must be done."

"Extremely Pragmatic" in Handling Affairs

Sánchez was born on February 29, 1972 (that year was a leap year) in Madrid, where his parents were civil servants. As a youth, he was a talented athlete, frequently entering the breakdance scene in the city's financial district (he specifically mentioned that breakdancing has now become an Olympic event), and even played for the under-21 basketball team of a university club.

As a leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Sánchez can be called a globalist technocrat. He studied at the Université libre de Bruxelles in Belgium and earned a master's degree, then obtained a doctorate in economics from the Universidad Camilo José Cela in Spain and worked as a teacher there. He is the first Spanish prime minister who speaks fluent English.

His political rise was not smooth. When he won the leadership of the PSOE in the party's first public primary in 2014, he was almost unknown. Then, in the context of voters still angry over the austerity policies of his predecessor, he led the PSOE through its worst election losses in history in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, when he refused to allow the center-right politician Mariano Rajoy and his Popular Party to form a government, senior members of his party plotted to remove him. But he ran again in the 2017 party primary, fearlessly campaigning across Spain, promoting an anti-establishment platform, and winning back the leadership. The following year, when Rajoy was involved in a corruption scandal, Sánchez introduced a vote of no confidence, which eventually made him the prime minister in June 2018.

Since then, Sánchez has formed a series of coalition governments, first with the leftist "Podemos" party, and later in 2023, after the general election, with another leftist party. In the same year, he decided to grant amnesty to leaders of the Catalan separatist movement (who had organized an illegal referendum in 2017 and declared independence), in exchange for parliamentary support. This move enraged nationalists. However, Nigel Townsend, a lecturer in history at Complutense University of Madrid, told me that this might help "ease" a "real toxic issue in Spanish politics, because there was no obvious solution at the time. It is an example of his extremely pragmatic approach."

Confronting Far-Right Forces

Sánchez's most pressing challenge is currently at home.

He needs to deal with the resurgence of far-right forces. Young people today are more inclined to support the nationalist party Vox than the previous generation, who had memories of the terror of the Franco era. Since the last election, the support for this far-right party has increased by half, and polls show that the People's Party and Vox are very close to winning a majority in the next election together.

Sánchez has already stated that he plans to run for re-election, and his aides confirmed this to me. He can campaign using his record of value-based foreign policy supported by most Spaniards, promoting economic growth, and successful immigration policies. Poll numbers may be unfavorable for the incumbent, but Sánchez has previously experienced success in difficult situations.

No matter what happens next, Sánchez believes that for him, it is important to share the experiences and lessons from his government with other social democratic forces throughout Europe. "There is a way of doing things that is uniquely Spanish progressivism," he said, then paused for a moment, "and it works." (Translated by Cao Weiguo)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7616577479708246563/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.