Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez saw that “the far-right wave is collapsing,” following the Democrats’ landslide victory in the US midterm elections, a few weeks before the early legislative elections in Spain on November 29.
Sanchez wrote on the “X” platform: “Yesterday, American society voted against policies that only lead to increasing poverty. Vote against hatred, machismo, climate change denial and elite privilege. This has already happened in Brazil, has just happened in the United States, and will soon happen in Spain.
He added, "The extreme right-wing wave on which (Alberto Nuñez) Vijo and (Maricarmen) Abascal (leaders of the right and far-right in Spain) are betting will continue is no longer advancing, but rather collapsing," according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
The Democrats achieved a landslide victory on Tuesday by obtaining a majority in both chambers of the US Congress in the midterm elections, which turned into a severe defeat for the Republicans and President Donald Trump.
Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unexpectedly won in Brazil weeks ago.
In Spain, opinion polls suggest that the right, represented by the Popular Party, will win, which may need the support of the far-right Vox Party to ensure an absolute majority.
After being unable to pass two bills in Parliament aimed at containing the severe housing crisis affecting the entire country, Sanchez called in early October for early legislative elections on November 29, hoping to capitalize on the state of popular anger over this crisis.
The election campaign has been overshadowed since by a horrific train accident in Orda, south of Madrid, that claimed the lives of at least 69 people last week, the second very serious railway accident the country has witnessed in less than a year.
Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente announced on Tuesday his resignation from his position, about a week after the catastrophic collision of two trains that killed at least 69 people, in the second serious accident witnessed by the Spanish railway network this year, according to Agence France-Presse.
The minister said at the end of a lengthy session before the representatives: “I would like to inform you that I am not only giving up my duties as minister, but I am also giving up running” for the early legislative elections scheduled for November 29.
Since the disaster, he had repeatedly ruled out submitting his resignation.
He added: “The Minister of Transport in a country like Spain cannot remain in his position after two such serious accidents in less than a year, no matter how different they are, and whether I bear direct responsibility for them or not,” also referring to the Adamuth disaster, which killed 46 people in January in Andalusia, in the south of the country.
He continued: “It is a matter of political dignity, consistency and compassion for the victims.”
He stressed: “I made my decision about my future in the first minutes following the tragedy, as soon as I learned of it.”
He added: “I announced this decision today in the most appropriate place for that, the seat of national sovereignty, after I completed what I considered the most urgent work that cannot be postponed: conducting preliminary investigations... and taking the first measures to compensate (the victims) and improve the safety of our railway network in the short term, as much as possible.”
Puente presented to reporters on Tuesday morning, following the Cabinet meeting, “an exceptional plan to enhance the safety of the high-speed train network,” in addition to an aid package for survivors and families of the victims.
He stressed that the government will work “tirelessly” to “restore the population’s confidence” in the Spanish high-speed train network.
The Ukrainian Public Prosecution announced, on Tuesday, that the former spokeswoman for the Ukrainian president, Yulia Mendel, has been charged with “high treason,” who in recent years has become one of the most prominent figures criticizing him, according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Mendel (40 years old) served as Zelensky's spokeswoman between 2019 and 2021, during the first years of his assumption of power. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mendel has increased her public criticism of the Ukrainian president, accusing him of corruption and increasing authoritarianism.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said via the Telegram application, “Public prosecutors... collected sufficient evidence to inform the former media official of the Ukrainian president that she is a suspect in a case of high treason and to justify the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.”
He added, "Mendel is accused of exploiting her fame and experience...to publish statements supportive of the aggressor state, with the aim of distorting the image of Ukraine."
Investigators take Mendel in particular for her statement that “there is no freedom of expression” in Ukraine, and that the country is moving “towards extinction.” They also accuse her of talking about people she says “make fortunes from continuing the war,” and of her referring to “political favoritism” and “persecution of opponents” in Ukraine.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, these statements fall within “speech in Russia’s interest,” which would “reinforce the disappointment and frustration of Ukrainian society.”
Mendel denied these accusations in a message via Telegram, noting that the wording of the accusation “proves that she is right.”
She added: “This is the price of freedom of expression and trying to save Ukraine under Zelensky’s regime.”
Last September, Zelensky imposed sanctions on Mendel, who is currently residing outside the country.
Mendel previously praised Zelensky, but she changed her position on him in recent years, accusing him of being “the biggest beneficiary of the war” and “one of the most prominent obstacles to peace.”
