INAUGURATION CAMPUS FAES 2023
Last Tuesday, September 12, MEP Javier Zarzalejos participated in the inauguration of the FAES Campus 2023: Let’s talk about Europe, Europe in transformation, together with Ambassador Javier Elorza, with whom he held a dialogue on Europe, moderated by journalist John Müller.
For Javier Elorza, we will not know what the outcome of the Spanish presidency will be until the end, but he was optimistic because “there is a magnificent civil service base and the Commission and the Parliament will help to ensure that everything goes well”.
On the contrary, Javier Zarzalejos assured that “the Spanish presidency of the EU, as such, does not exist”. “Another thing is that we are in the hands of a very competent bureaucracy and there is no presidency that goes wrong because everyone has an interest in the dossiers being closed”, he added.
Then, the former Prime Minister of Spain and president of FAES Foundation, José María Aznar, pointed out that we are living “dramatic times because there is a certain existential risk for the continuity of Spain as a nation, as a political community of free and equal citizens and as a State under the rule of law applied by independent judges and courts”. “What is underway is an operation to dismantle the Constitution, to destroy its legitimacy, in short, to reverse a great success story”, he lamented.
In his opinion, “the surrender of socialism to secessionism in exchange for maintaining power is by itself the most destructive fact that we have suffered in democratic politics”. “The secessionism driven by the Socialist Party believes it has found its moment, the one that marks the point of no return towards the destruction of the Constitution”, he remarked.
The FAES Campus 2023 has brought together prestigious experts, academics, politicians and journalists such as Josu Jon Imaz, Mario Ruiz-Tagle, José Bogas, Pío Cabanillas, Sergey Utkin, Mustafa Aydin, Joaquín Manso, Julián Quirós, Nacho Cardero, Jorge Sicilia, Nicolás Pascual de la Parte and Ignacio Torreblanca.
During these days, the participants have reflected on the future of transatlantic relations and the liberal order, EU strategy, the role of Spain on the international chessboard, the economy and the energy transition, among other topics.