• High representative Josep Borrell will have fewer competencies in the EU than Pedro Sánchez announced
  • Politics: Josep Borrell's position in the EU, undermined by Abengoa and the repetition of elections
  • Exteriors: Jose Borrell will only sell his shares in Bayer, Iberdrola and BBVA if he is obliged by the European Parliament

The acting Spanish Foreign Minister, Josep Borrell, has rejected Monday all use of privileged information for the sale of shares when he was advisor to the company Abengoa, during the hearing in the European Parliament in which he seeks support for the post of High representative of the EU.

"I have always rejected the use of any kind of insider information," Borrell said to a question from the popular Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete about the sale of the shares.

Borrell has acknowledged that he was subject in Spain to a sanction for that transaction, but clarifies that it was "an operation for 9,000 euros, which was 7% of my portfolio of shares," and that he kept the rest "until he completely lost its value, bearing losses of 300,000 euros. "

"Do you think that someone who has privileged information is limited to using it to sell only 7% of their portfolio, and assumes losing the remaining 93%?" Said Borrell, who has acknowledged, however, that this operation occurred "at an inappropriate time."

Borrell has undergone a hearing for three hours before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, which should support the whole of the Community Executive, and in which MEPs have asked him about several statements of his that have caused controversy in the past.

The first, concerning an intervention in a forum organized at the end of 2018 by the Complutense University of Madrid on the future of Europe, where Borrell argued that the United States has a higher level of political integration for two main reasons that do not occur in Europe. From the outset, because they all have the same language and, the second, he said, "because they have very little history behind. They were born to independence with virtually no history, all they had done was kill four Indians, but other than that ... it was so easy".

Borrell reminded the parliamentary commission that he has already apologized about that appointment. "It was an unfortunate expression through which I simply wanted to say that the United States of Europe will never be like the United States of America, because we have a too great history of confrontation between us," he said.

Borrell has also answered another question about his position on the sale of weapons to a country with problems with human rights such as Saudi Arabia and the fact that Spain has made any of those transactions, a matter on which he said: "I do not come to give an account of my country's politics. "

As a reference, he replied that Spain "fulfilled the commitments acquired" from the previous Government, but from the Executive of which it is a part "no new arms sales to Saudi Arabia have been authorized."

MEPs have questioned Borrell about rubbing Moscow after calling Russia "old enemy" and "threat" last May 23 in an interview, statements that caused the Spanish ambassador to Russia, Fernando Valderrama, to be quoted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.

The Catalan politician has responded to MEPs who in that interview did not qualify Russia as an enemy, but wanted to underline that there are new threats coming from the east.

"Is it or is it not true that new threats appear in the east? And if it is not true, what are our F-18 fighter planes and our Spanish Army Leopard fighter tanks deployed in Estonia and Lithuania doing there? have you gone there for coffee or have you gone because there is a threat? "Borrell asked rhetorically.

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