Spain's leader Sanchez awards UN's Francesca Albanese Order of Civil Merit

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday awarded the Order of Civil Merit to the United Nations special rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, in an apparent show of solidarity with the expert sanctioned by the US for her work.

“Public responsibility also entails the moral obligation not to look the other way,” Sanchez wrote in a statement.

“It is an honor to award the Order of Civil Merit to a voice that upholds the conscience of the world: Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The move comes a day after Sanchez formally requested the European Commission to activate the EU’s Blocking Statute to shield the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations from US sanctions. 

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