Argentina Milei visits Spain in a tense climate
Argentine President Javier Milei has begun his trip to Europe. The ultra-liberal politician arrived in the Spanish capital Madrid on Friday afternoon. However, meetings with representatives of the left-wing government or with the Spanish head of state, King Felipe VI, are not planned on this first leg of the trip.
21.06.2024, 16:00
SDA
The reason: relations between Milei and the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez are extremely poor. Following a diplomatic scandal during an initial visit in mid-May, Spain withdrew its ambassador in Buenos Aires. At a campaign event of the Spanish right-wing populists (Vox) for the European elections, Milei had sharply attacked Sánchez and described the socialist's wife, Begoña Gómez, as "corrupt".
Spain accused the South American, who describes himself as an "anarcho-capitalist", of "interfering in internal affairs" and a "frontal attack on our democracy, on our institutions and on Spain", among other things. Milei rejected the demand for a public apology. He has since continued his verbal attacks.
Milei was celebrated like a rock star in Madrid in May. He thrilled the more than 10,000 participants at the meeting with statements such as: socialism "leads to slavery or death" or social justice is "always unjust". Numerous high-ranking politicians from abroad were also in attendance, including France's Marine Le Pen, Portugal's André Ventura and the Israeli Minister for Social Equality, Amichai Chikli. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni joined in via video and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a message.
During his new visit, Milei will meet with the conservative President of the so-called Autonomous Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, among others, who will present him with a medal. The central government accused Ayuso of wanting to "provoke" Sánchez. Milei is also to receive a prize from a liberal foundation. Milei will travel on to Germany at the weekend. On Saturday, the Argentinian will be in Hamburg, on Sunday he will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. The last stop on his trip to Europe is the Czech Republic.
