On Friday night, four days after the attacks that killed two Swedes in Brussels, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne resigned. That morning, the Government had learned that the jihadist had been claimed by Tunisia in 2022 but the extradition request had not been processed.. The document had reached the judge, but he had not done his job. It was an “individual, monumental and unacceptable mistake”, but Van Quickenborne, assuming political responsibilities, went home.

We already have a substitute. His name is Paul Van Tigchelt, the outgoing right-hand man in security matters.. From 2016 to 2020, Van Tigchelt headed OCAD, the coordination unit that analyzes all threats. And before he had been a prosecutor. He will hold the portfolios of Justice, North Sea and deputy prime minister. He has training, experience and extensive knowledge of the system from all sides. It remains to be seen if he has the political capital, the will, the faith and the strength to take on one of the most difficult tasks since Hercules completed his 12 tests: san(e)r the Administration of Justice.

It won't be able to. Neither he nor anyone. Justice is complicated everywhere, what are we Spaniards going to say?. But in Belgium, a smaller, endogamous country, in which everyone not only knows each other but has studied together, and has worked in the same law firms, and where the revolving doors move at a devilish speed, it is even more complicated. .

The authorities have tried to protect the magistrate who made no attempt to hand over a jihadist who had been imprisoned in Tunisia, who was imprisoned in Sweden and who had threatened to kill a person in a shelter in Belgium.. They say the judges are overloaded, that he had completed 30 of the 31 cases, and that he ruled just that. It may be true and perhaps even the cause of the error.. It is also true that this judge was convicted in the past when he manipulated a summary to protect a friend of his, a lawyer.. And the same thing again with a businessman years later. Reprimand, a few months to the private sector, and back as if nothing had happened.

The same as with the star judge Michel Claise, who recused himself from the QatarGate case of corruption in the European Parliament when it emerged that one of his sons is a partner of the son of MEP Marie Arena.. That she is not accused and has not been interrogated, coincidentally, even though she is a confidant or ex-partner of one of the main investigators.. Claise is close to the lawyer of another of the accused, with whom he worked at his father's law firm, who was also his mentor.. And I say it transcended because almost everyone knew it, which is a very small world.. And nothing happened.

What to say about the judges or prosecutors in charge of the Euroorder of the Catalan independentists, making decisions censored by the Court of Justice of the EU. That instead of applying the rules and arresting those who were claimed, they arranged an appointment by calling the defense lawyers, their old acquaintances.. Or, vigilantes who see themselves as heroes of freedom above any jurisdiction. There are ungovernable cities, unreformable countries and unsalvageable ministries, which look like a private club but without means and with criminal gangs threatening death.. Flamenco arrives with enthusiasm, but will leave scalded. Like everyone.

It was the big surprise of the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union, which was held yesterday in Luxembourg. Among the issues to be discussed, the Spanish minister, José Manuel Albares, proposed to his counterparts the possibility of lifting EU sanctions on Venezuela. An idea that comes within the framework of following the path of the United States, and after the dialogue in Barbados, the summit held last week between Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, where they agreed to hold elections in the second half of next year.. “I have intervened with my colleagues to raise the need to study the review of the EU sanctions on Venezuela, in line with the recent decisions of the United States and given the positive evolution of the dialogue between Venezuelans,” said Albares.

Although he called on Josep Borrell to carry out the work, the minister is committed to normalizing Europe's relations with the revolutionary leadership when Spain has been missing from the process that led to the signing of the Barbados Agreement. An agreement that would not have been reached without the secret negotiations between Washington and Caracas, which have allowed the partial lifting of energy sanctions in exchange for the launch of repatriation flights for Venezuelan emigrants from US soil and the ratification of certain conditions. minimum democratic elections for the presidential elections.

Another counterpart is the release of political prisoners, although so far only six of 273 have been released.. Among those who remain in prison are four Spanish prisoners, three women (María Auxiliadora Delgado, Ángela Expósito and Karen Hernández) and one man (Jorge Alayeto).. At the moment, it is unknown if these releases will be a condition for Europe to lift the sanctions, since ministry sources have not specified.

After the struggle between both administrations, Juan González, special advisor to Joe Biden, imposed an ultimatum on Maduro that expires at the end of November. During these weeks, the Bolivarian revolution should advance in the release of prisoners, especially Americans, and in the withdrawal of disqualifications against opposition leaders.

The Government of Pedro Sánchez has not been part of the countries that have held the meeting in Barbados, where Norway served as sponsor with the support of Russia and the Netherlands. Latin American foreign ministers also supported the agreements with their presence, in addition to France, with a starring role (Macron has offered to lead electoral observation in the presidential elections) that has particularly stung Spanish diplomacy.

At the beginning of the month, Sánchez greeted the IX Summit of the Puebla Group, which brings together revolutionary, populist, leftist and progressive leaders from the Americas and whose leaders include José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

The EU approved the package of sanctions against Venezuela in November 2017 and included embargoing weapons to stop internal repression, as well as a selective list of sanctioned people who were prevented from traveling to the EU.. That is why some critics believe that this lifting of measures will not have any impact, since during its validity they did not have any impact in Venezuela either.

No ceasefire, no end to hostilities. What the EU is starting to say, and what it will probably ask for at the highest level this week, is a “humanitarian pause”. In the Israeli bombings on Gaza, in the launching of rockets from the Strip to the south of Israel, so that the release of the hostages can materialize and so that humanitarian aid can enter, which if it was important before is now irreplaceable for survival of hundreds of thousands of people.

The expression “humanitarian pause”, used last week in a European Parliament resolution, is the only one on which there seems to be “a basic consensus” right now in Brussels. Then it was criticized because it fell short (deputies from the left voted against it precisely for that reason) but now it seems the only firm ground. Countries like Spain and Ireland are openly in favor of a “ceasefire”, and their foreign ministers in Luxembourg have asked for it this Monday.. But not even the “humanitarian ceasefire” formula, proposed by the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres (but not backed by a formal resolution), convinces in all capitals, which believe it is going too far..

Without a doubt, they would prefer that the violence end, but many, among them the most important, believe that it is not appropriate to demand it, since it would be an interference in Israel's right to self-defense, to which according to everyone it is entitled.. So they are not going to go further for the moment, just as the US did not allow even the mention of a pause at the UN. Italian Minister Antonio Tajani sums it up well: “We support humanitarian pauses to send supplies, but a truce is something else.”. The truce cannot mean that Israel gives up its self-defense,” explained the head of Forza Italia..

“Personally I think that a humanitarian pause is necessary to allow humanitarian delivery and distribution in Gaza,” the high representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, said this Monday, emphasizing that “half” of the population in the Strip has had to leave their homes or cities in the last week. The key word in that sentence, and in the rest of the ones he has uttered, is “personally.”. Borrell wants a truce, an immediate ceasefire, but he is the spokesperson for the 27 on Foreign Affairs and Security and knows that there is no common position on the matter.. So you can go around it, define the terms vaguely, insist on “concern for murdered civilians,” but without going much further than that..

“In Cairo there was a lot of talk about the need to stop the violence and think about civilian victims. The ceasefire is more than a pause, much more. A pause is just that, an interruption of something that then continues. It is a less ambitious objective than a ceasefire, which is an agreement between the parties.. A pause can be agreed upon more quickly and I believe that this is how the ministers have understood it,” the veteran Spanish politician admitted with resignation..

Summit this Thursday

On Thursday, the heads of state and government of the 27 will meet in Brussels for a summit dedicated mainly to international issues.. In the document of conclusions that is being negotiated, and that may change between now and Friday, it starts with Ukraine, with no less than 11 points, reiterating support for the country and trying to maintain attention, help and pressure on Russia, aware that the eyes of the world have shifted to the Middle East. “Ukraine has disappeared from the news but not from reality,” said the high representative at the end of the meeting.

After Ukraine, the document addresses the situation in Israel and Gaza with a specific message. “The European Council supports the call of the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, for a humanitarian pause to allow safe humanitarian access so that aid reaches those who need it,” says point 15 of the draft that the ambassadors are now negotiating. and Sherpas despite the fact that the aforementioned request is for a ceasefire. “The European Union will work closely with its partners in the region to protect civilians, support those trying to reach safety or provide assistance and facilitate access to food, water, healthcare, fuel and shelter. “The European Council reiterates the need for the immediate release of all hostages without any preconditions,” the text says..

The acting president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, called Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to convey, on the one hand, support and condemnation for the Hamas terrorist attacks, but also to ask for a “humanitarian ceasefire”, a hybrid formula, and to urge him to allow the entry of more humanitarian aid urgently.

The provisional conclusions emphasize that the only possible solution is through a two-state solution, and applaud Egypt's initiative over the weekend to hold an “inclusive peace conference”, however complicated it may seem.. “We have to talk about the political process, because the peace process has been forgotten or set aside for too long (…) The priority now is to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have increased support but there are queues and queues of trucks waiting to enter. They should be able to do it. It is urgent that we can send the most basic things and that the supply of running water and electricity be restored,” said Borrell, without a doubt the figure who has raised his voice the most since day one.. Both to categorically condemn the massacre perpetrated by Hamas and to demand respect for international law from Israel in its response.

Madrid and Dublin do ask for more. “The suffering of innocent civilians, especially children, is on a scale that, in our opinion, requires an immediate cessation and the provision on an accelerated and full scale of water, food and medical supplies,” he said upon arrival at a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg the Irishman Micheál Martin. “We understand Israel's need to deal with Hamas because it was a heinous attack, but the degree of suffering that innocent civilians in Gaza are now enduring is simply not acceptable.. That is why we believe that a humanitarian pause is required to, at a minimum, get aid and supplies there,” he noted..

“It is time for a ceasefire, it is time to stop this violence and when the violence in Gaza and Israel stops, which is the main objective, and prevent the extension of the conflict, we have to look further and the real solution is a State Palestinian recognized by the international community,” agreed the Spaniard José Manuel Albares. However, others such as the Czech minister or the Italian himself have stressed that after the massacre suffered, Israel's defense strategy cannot be interfered with.. You can tell them containment, respect for legality or a short interruption for the entry of trucks, but no more. Not for now.