The still president of the PP, Pablo Casado, will attend this Thursday on behalf of his party the meeting with his European partners in which the position that the conservative family will defend in the imminent summit of heads of state and government that will revolve in around the crisis in Ukraine, the consequences for the European Union and the position that the member countries must defend in the face of the Russian invasion, which is now in its second week. The problem is that, a few hours before the appointment, the PP does not know if Casado will speak or not before the plenary session of the European PP. Nor what will he say, in case of intervening. This is confirmed by different party sources consulted by elDiario.es. A situation that can last another 20 days, until the extraordinary congress, in one of the most delicate moments for Europe.
Casado rushes his days as president of a PP intervened by some barons who pressure Feijóo
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The war in Ukraine has caught the PP headless and in an internal crisis that, although disguised from the outside, weighs down its approaches and its position on a major issue. Despite the fact that this Wednesday the main opposition party has focused its interventions in the control session on reproaching the coalition government for its position on the conflict unleashed on the eastern border of the continent, the party itself is not clear what it will say behind closed doors to his partners, nor if he will say anything, on the matter.
This Wednesday the PP has confirmed that Casado will attend the meeting, convened weeks ago but, now, it will be single-issue. “Married will go to the summit, they have invited him,” sources close to him assure elDiario.es. Formally, he continues to be the president of the PP and, therefore, the official representative of the organization before the institutions, whether Spanish or European. Casado, for example, is the one who receives direct information from the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, about Ukraine. When the crisis broke out, communication problems between the party’s formal leader and the person in actual command, the general coordinator, Cuca Gamarra, could already be sensed. The presidential candidate Alberto Núñez Feijóo tries, for the moment, to stay on the sidelines.
The meeting will be attended, as usual, by the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, and that of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. The two main institutional figures that the PP has in Brussels and who, until now, had dialogue with Casado. In fact, in each meeting with them the president of the PP took the opportunity to influence their complaints about the distribution of European funds or about alleged subsidies received by the ETA environment.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, sent a letter to the Heads of State and Government to confirm that the informal summit on Thursday and Friday “will focus on three issues”: the “defense capabilities! of the EU, the reduction of “energy dependence” on Russia and the construction of more “robust” economic bases, reports Andrew Gil.
And these same issues will be dealt with on Thursday morning by the European People’s Party. From Casado’s environment they insist to this medium that he is going to go to the meeting, “as he has gone to all of them.” The intention, according to the same sources, is “not to report anything”, as Casado has been doing since he surrendered to pressure from the barons, agreed not to run for a second term as head of the party and announced his support for Feijóo. On Tuesday, for example, he went to vote in Congress. He entered the Hemicycle at the last minute, voted and left. “He will continue to fulfill his obligations until there is a new president,” they conclude.
The forecast is that this Thursday in Paris the same thing will happen. Casado will not offer statements to journalists upon arrival or departure from the meeting. Nor is it expected to report his intervention behind closed doors.
But neither in the party, which is experiencing a strange interim situation, is it clear what Casado is going to say before the PPE. This is indicated by internal sources close to the current address consulted by elDiario.es, which casts doubt on the existence of any type of communication between the still president and the person who is currently the number two of the party, Cuca Gamarra.
East impasse It can end this Thursday, if it is confirmed that Feijóo is the only candidate to preside over the party, which would allow him to assume spaces of power before the congress on April 1 and 2. But if there were any person who achieved the 100 guarantees necessary to compete, the situation would last another 20 days. A long time at such a volatile moment in which hitherto unknown debates have been opened within the EU on security, economics or energy policy and in which the PP does not have, at least for now, an authorized voice beyond the Pyrenees .
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