No apology

Milei continues to rage against Spanish first lady

Argentina's head of state Javier Milei described the Spanish prime minister and his wife as corrupt, causing quite a diplomatic stir.

(Bild: APA/AFP/MANDEL NGAN)

The diplomatic crisis between Spain and Argentina following an appearance by Argentinian President Javier Milei at an election event organized by the right-wing populist party Vox is deepening, as the government in Madrid has now withdrawn its ambassador from Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, the Argentinian continues to rage against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his wife.

The ultra-liberal Milei sharply attacked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid on Sunday and described the socialist's wife, Begoña Gómez, as "corrupt". Sánchez initially recalled the ambassador to Madrid for consultations and demanded a "public apology" from the Argentinian president.

However, Milei not only refused to apologize. Instead, he continued his verbal attacks. "The socialists are capable of anything. This is diplomatic nonsense", he said in an interview with the newspaper "La Nación" on Tuesday. However, Milei does not want to recall his ambassador because: "If Pedro Sánchez makes a huge mistake, I won't be stupid enough to make the same mistake. You have to explain to Mr. Sánchez that he is not the state, that he is not Spain and that his wife is even less so."

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez with his wife Begoña Gómez

(Bild: AFP/APA/JAVIER SORIANO)

Spain defends itself against "frontal attack"
Spain accuses the South American politician, who describes himself as an "anarcho-capitalist", of "interfering in internal affairs" and a "frontal attack on our democracy, on our institutions and on Spain", among other things.

Milei celebrated like a rock star by Spain's right wing
At the election campaign event at the weekend, Milei himself was celebrated like a rock star. He thrilled the more than 10,000 participants at the meeting with statements such as socialism "leads to slavery or death" and social justice is "always unjust". Numerous high-ranking politicians from abroad were also in attendance, including France's Marine Le Pen, Portugal's André Ventura and the Israeli Minister for Social Equality, Amichai Chikli. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni joined in via video and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent a message.