There was a lot of expectation to hear the opinion of Philip Gonzalez (80). The former President of the Government has been interviewed in ‘Lo de Évole’ by the Catalan journalist and has not left anyone indifferent since he has made an exhaustive review of the national news, marked by the crisis of the Popular Party, and the international one, where the Russian invasion of Ukraine grabs all the headlines worldwide.
On the war conflict, which according to the latest figures from the Ukrainian State Emergency Service has already caused over 2,000 civilians killed due to the intense bombing of the main cities of the country, and the flight of more than a million people, according to the UN Refugee Agency (Acnur), Felipe González has been very harsh with his main instigator: Vladimir Putin.
“There was no reason to trust Putin. He has no limits. He has an imperial vision. He looks more like Hitler than Stalin. It will end up devastating the Ukraine. It is something intolerable, an autocrat who crushes a people. Russia wants to neutralize Ukraine. It will get little for him, and a lot of misfortune for the rest. But it is also going to get Ukraine to consolidate its identity as a nation, ”says the former Prime Minister, who would not send NATO troops
“I don’t think it is a decision that can be adopted, but I would say that there will be no pressure until Putin returns to the borders of the Russian Federation”, adds González, who is aware of the relevance of the invasion and its effects.
“It may be the most relevant event since the fall of the Berlin Wall And it’s already affecting us. The price of energy, inflation, the problem it generates in the countryside. We are going to have some serious problems that should lead us to an income agreement because together we all have to move this forward. And this is something that is going to last because even if the war as such ends soon, the Ukrainians are not going to give up,” says Felipe González.
Crisis in the Popular Party
Questioned by Jordi Évoles about the recent crisis within the Popular Party, the former leader of the PSOE describes it as “internal misfortune”. “I wanted it to resolve why the systemic parties must take care of the institutions because they are the foundation of coexistence. The PP is a crisis due to management errors, but I don’t think it’s just that. Something will have happened beyond a fight with Isabel Díaz Ayuso. I see that there is a management with an excessive component of irritation in the internal structure of the PP”, indicates González.
On Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the former president assures that he represents “trumpism”. “But I dare not define it. I can only imagine what his participation would be like in one of these NATO councils or at European level on the Ukraine crisis and I have a hard time fitting it”, he shares. A kinder opinion has of the one that with all probability will be the next president of the PP, Alberto Nunez Feijoo.
“I have a personal relationship with Feijóo. we understand each other easily. What I appreciate the most is that you believe, like me, that democracy needs parties that defend the space of centrality so that there is less tension”, he explains.
The role of the king emeritus
Similarly, Felipe González has not avoided offering an opinion on the monarchy and the figure of the king emeritus. “At some point I have felt disappointed, but that doesn’t change my perception of his role. I think he should return to Spain for an institutional issue and the need to manage a political problem, ”says González, who sees many differences between Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI.
“Are very different. From the academic point of view, Felipe VI has much more training, he is more thoughtful and calm. They don’t have much to do with each other and I don’t think the current monarch is making the same mistakes.”, the former Prime Minister has settled.