Estrella Galán (Madrid, 1971) was the head of Sumar’s list in the European elections in June and her arrival at the European Parliament has occurred in a complicated context in her own ranks in the face of a poor electoral result that left Izquierda Unida without a seat for for the first time and she was a minority in the group of La Izquierda (The Left), given that her fellow candidates (Comunes and Compromís) went to Los Verdes. Even so, he admits that the collaboration with Jaume Asens and Vincent Marzá is good, while his answers reveal a complicated relationship with Irene Montero and Isa Serra.
In the first stages of the legislature, in which The Left voted against the re-election of Ursula von der Leyen and her College of Commissioners, it considers that the progressive forces must “rethink their role in Europe” and throws a dart at Podemos : “My group in Parliament can be a driving force for a new critical and purposeful reference, as Sumar is in the Government of Spain, and for this it is also necessary, and this is an internal reading, which is not “Let’s transfer the conflicts that exist at the national level to the European terrain.”
How have the first months of your term in the European Parliament been?
Everyone was talking about the difference in the tones of the Parliament in Spain and the policies that are made in Europe, but I have found that harsh and empty tone of the right, with a space that is quite hostile and very much to the right. . They are interested in noise because they do not have a political project for either Spanish citizens or European citizens and they bring here the same practices that we see in the Congress of Deputies: hoaxes, misinformation and insults. We saw it in the DANA debate in Valencia how the PP conveyed hatred against the Spanish Government in Parliament. It is terrible to see how, when talking about the rule of law, Spain is described as an authoritarian regime. It’s worrying.
Why did they vote against the College of Commissioners?
It is a College that does not represent the values of democratic Europe and that has embraced the policies of the extreme right. It was very difficult to vote in favor of a College in which a member of a far-right group is given the vice presidency. For us, whitewashing the extreme right is one of the biggest threats facing the Europe of freedoms at the moment.
Did you have a debate within the La Izquierda group about support for Teresa Ribera? I mean, did you have to do lobby with your colleagues?
I had to convey the assessment that we have about the green and progressive policies that Teresa has carried out and that she was a good candidate.
Can we defend the same thing as you in those meetings with the group?
That question belongs to Podemos.
Regarding the right-wing movement that you mentioned, the European PP can build a majority to move things forward with the extreme right and we have seen that it has already done so. Do you think that the left should open a debate about having another type of role with respect to the relationship with the majority or the coalition that ‘governs’ in the EU as the Greens have done?
We are at a strategic moment in which the left should rethink its role in Europe. When I talk about the left, I’m not just talking about The Left, I’m talking about the social democrats, who can have a very relevant role in that sense. It is time to propose a new majority or a new coalition of democratic parties that defend freedoms and rights in the European Union. It is time to call on the social democrats, because truly embracing or agreeing with the right and the extreme right is not the way to move forward. Europe has to follow Spain’s lead in advancing rights and that can only be achieved with the help of the left, not with Meloni. My group in Parliament can be a driving force for a new critical and purposeful reference, as is Sumar in the Government of Spain, and for this it is also necessary, and this is an internal reading, that we do not transfer the conflicts that exist at the level national to the European terrain.
But in the end it is the governments that make name proposals. Meloni proposes his candidate, Orbán his for the European Commission… and in reality the numbers do not appear without the right, they do not appear without the European People’s Party. When you say that socialists must rethink their alliances, what do you mean? Should I have had a stronger negotiating position?
We are already one step beyond the formation of the College. Now is the time to look forward and make policies. It is when I propose that new perspective and those alliances that are fundamental so that this legislature is not one of the left hiding in winter quarters, waiting to see what the extreme right imposes on us.
Regarding the operation of Sumar, they were in the same candidacy, but, when you arrived at the European Parliament, you went to the group of La Izquierda y los Comromís, to the Greens. How is Sumar managed in the European Parliament? Has it been a good experiment?
The relationship between the three Sumar MEPs is absolutely collaborative and, as was said from the beginning, we have the same agenda and we approach it from these two groups that we believe represent the different sensitivities that are in the different parties that are part of Sumar. Our roadmap in Spain and Europe is clear: housing, labor rights, social rights and human rights. The experience is very positive.
And regarding the coexistence with Podemos in the La Izquierda group, what assessment do you make?
In The Left, all the delegations work hand in hand to counteract the austericidal rights-cutting policies that the right is trying to impose. I have always said it since I was proposed as a candidate: my only objective in Parliament is to make policies that reach and change people’s lives. And you won’t find me anywhere else.
Are you worried about the division on the left? And, in the specific case of Podemos, do you think they will end the legislature being on the same platform with a restructuring of the entire Spanish left?
I value very positively any proposal on how to articulate the forces of the left. It was Sumar that on July 23 articulated a coalition of left-wing political forces and later I myself headed a coalition list for the European elections where most of the left-wing parties were. Therefore, that vocation is in Sumar’s DNA and I trust that we can continue moving forward to achieve a strong left.
Netanyahu is the biggest threat to peace and stability in the world
At the European level, progressive forces are divided on international political issues, such as in Ukraine or the Middle East. How are these discrepancies managed? Do you understand the position of your German colleagues on what is happening in Gaza?
So far this term, Die Linke, which is the group that is in The Left, is absolutely aligned in its positions regarding the genocide in Gaza. I have not found a single discrepancy. I do know that my colleagues who are in the Greens are suffering more from this situation with the Green Germans. But fortunately that discrepancy that at some other time seems to have existed, is not present at this time.
Gaza has once again taken a backseat to the situation in Syria. Do you think the European Union is doing enough?
At all. The end of the Palestinian genocide can only come with pressure from the international community on Israel. Netanyahu only understands the language of sanctions and today Europe is looking the other way. We cannot continue to allow Europe to finance the Israeli war machine and not carry out a total embargo on the purchase and sale of arms with Israel by each and every member state of the European Union. The Association Agreement must be suspended as the Government of Spain and also Ireland requested more than half a year ago. That silence and looking away from Europe is the weapon that Netanyahu relies on to continue exterminating the Palestinian people. Netanyahu is the biggest threat to global stability.
How do you see the situation in Syria? What can the European Union do?
The fall of the dictatorial and brutal regime such as that of Al Assad can only be described as good news. It is inevitable that uncertainty may occur in this process of change and we will be very vigilant about how it develops and that the transition can be carried out peacefully.
The main focus of instability in the Middle East right now is no longer Syria, it is Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Netanyahu has taken advantage of the situation in Syria to also go one step further. There is nothing more cruel than taking advantage of the fact that a people is celebrating the fall of a brutal dictatorship like that of Al Assad to invade its territory. Israel is the biggest threat to peace and stability in the world.
Several countries have announced the suspension of the processing of asylum applications. The European Commission has opened up to financing voluntary returns. Do you think the circumstances are right for us to be talking about this now?
At all. From the experience of how a return process occurs in a newly recovered country, a regime is not in conditions for the return of refugees. We celebrate that the Spanish Government has firmly positioned itself in that position of continuing to respect the protection of the Syrian population. It takes time. Right now is not the right time to make those types of hasty decisions that the European Union is proposing and that many States are already making haste. Syrian refugees who were in makeshift camps mainly in Lebanon are already returning. Let’s see what happens and people who still do not feel secure in that return will have to wait to see how this new marital status is organized.
Is Spain left alone in the face of the hardening of the immigration debate?
It is alarming that Spain is the only one that positions itself against the normalization and imposition of the positions of the xenophobic right in the migration policies of the European Union. Last week the Council approved a formula to criminalize the rescue of migrants and that is nothing more than the advancement of a racist agenda in the European Union. Democratic countries must put their foot on the wall, we must say enough is enough because we cannot be complicit in the European Union accepting the persecution and criminalization of NGOs that are rescuing and saving lives at sea, which is what the member states they should do. Could we imagine that those who helped and welcomed the Spaniards when they fled into exile in the 60s or 70s would have been persecuted? This is what is happening.
#Estrella #Galán #transfer #conflicts #exist #national #level #European #terrain
