Spain's PM Wants Israel Out of International Cultural Events over Gaza War

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, China April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, China April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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Spain's PM Wants Israel Out of International Cultural Events over Gaza War

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, China April 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, China April 11, 2025. (Reuters)

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called on Monday for Israel's exclusion from international cultural events such as the Eurovision song contest over its military campaign in Gaza, just as Russia was barred after its invasion of Ukraine.

"We cannot allow double standards, not even in culture," Sanchez, a Socialist and long-time critic of Israeli policies in occupied Palestinian territory, told a conference in Madrid.

"I believe that no one was shocked three years ago when Russia was asked to withdraw from international competitions after it invaded Ukraine and not participate, for example, at Eurovision. Therefore, Israel should not do so either," he said.

Israel's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Sanchez's remarks.

Sanchez called on artists to stand up for threatened values such as democracy and peace, criticizing those who defend "a bland, silent, equidistant cultural sector".

Eurovision, which stresses its political neutrality, faced controversy again during this month's finals in Basel, Switzerland, won by Austrian singer JJ, while Israel's Yuval Raphael emerged as the winner of the televote.

Pro-Palestinian groups had urged the European Broadcasting Union to exclude Israel over the war in Gaza. More than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health officials, in Israel's offensive since a cross-border Hamas attack in October 2023 that killed around 1,200 people.

Israel's declared goal in Gaza is the elimination of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas. Despite international pressure to end the hostilities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday Israel would take control of the whole of the Gaza Strip.

A year ago, Spain, along with Norway and Ireland, formally recognized a unified Palestinian state ruled by the Palestinian Authority and with East Jerusalem as its capital - a decision Israel has condemned as bolstering Hamas.

Last October, Sanchez urged the European Union and wider international community to stop selling weapons to Israel, as Spain did in 2023.



Germany and Last Kaiser’s Heirs Agree to Keep Treasures on Display

German State Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer attends a press conference following a meeting with EU Culture Ministers and cultural figures in Ministry of Culture in Paris, France, 11 June 2025. (EPA)
German State Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer attends a press conference following a meeting with EU Culture Ministers and cultural figures in Ministry of Culture in Paris, France, 11 June 2025. (EPA)
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Germany and Last Kaiser’s Heirs Agree to Keep Treasures on Display

German State Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer attends a press conference following a meeting with EU Culture Ministers and cultural figures in Ministry of Culture in Paris, France, 11 June 2025. (EPA)
German State Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer attends a press conference following a meeting with EU Culture Ministers and cultural figures in Ministry of Culture in Paris, France, 11 June 2025. (EPA)

The heirs of the former Prussian monarchy and Germany's state-run cultural foundations on Friday announced a deal that will allow thousands of the family's treasures and artefacts to remain on public display.

The agreement ends a century-old dispute between the state and the Hohenzollern family, descendants of the last German emperor and king of Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who abdicated after World War I.

"After 100 years, we have amicably resolved a dispute dating back to the transition from the monarchy to the republic," said Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer, hailing the "historic success".

The collection reportedly covers 27,000 objects including paintings, sculptures, coins, books and furniture.

"Countless works of art that are of great importance to the history of Brandenburg, Prussia, and thus Germany will now be permanently accessible to the public and continue to form the centerpieces of our museums and palaces," said Weimer.

Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia said in a statement that "it has always been my goal to permanently preserve our shared cultural heritage for art-loving citizens and to make it publicly accessible".

"The solution now found provides an excellent basis for a new partnership between the state cultural foundations and my family."

Under the agreement, previously disputed objects will be transferred to a non-profit Hohenzollern Art Heritage Foundation, with two thirds of the board made up of public sector representatives, and one third by the aristocratic family.

The ancient House of Hohenzollern ruled the German Empire from its establishment in 1871 until Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate in 1918, going into exile after Germany's defeat in World War I.

The Prussian royals were initially to be stripped of their properties, but a deal was later worked out under a 1926 law.

The imperial family received millions of Deutschmarks and kept dozens of castles, villas and other properties, mainly in and around Berlin but also as far away as today's Namibia.

However, after Nazi Germany's World War II defeat, Soviet occupation of eastern Germany and communist rule led to additional expropriations.

The riches lost behind the Iron Curtain only came back into reach for the Hohenzollern family with the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.

Under a 1994 law, people whose property was expropriated by the Soviets have a right to claim compensation, but only if they did not "lend considerable support" to the Nazi regime.

The family fought for years to recover the treasures but dropped the bid in 2023 when a family representative acknowledged that Kaiser Wilhelm II "sympathized with the Nazis at times".

The deal announced on Friday was sealed after the German Historical Museum Foundation gave its approval, following the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the Prussian Castles and Gardens Foundation in Berlin-Brandenburg.

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