Spanish PM Awarded UN's Francesca Albanese with Order of Civil Merit
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez awarded the Order of Civil Merit to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on March 27, signaling support for the expert after U.S. sanctions. Sanchez also urged the EU to activate its Blocking Statute to shield the ICC and UN from American penalties.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on March 27 presented the Order of Civil Merit to Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, in a move seen as a gesture of solidarity with the expert after the United States imposed sanctions on her.
“Public responsibility also includes the moral duty not to turn a blind eye,” Sanchez wrote in a statement. “It is an honor to award the Order of Civil Merit to a voice defending the world’s conscience: Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The gesture came one day after Sanchez formally requested the European Commission to activate the EU’s Blocking Statute to protect the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations from U.S. sanctions.
