Spain vs France- Betrayal and Drama while discussing Human Rights

   In the UNHRC, draft resolutions were being made yesterday regarding the topic of decriminalization of abortion, during which France and Spain were working together. However, throughout a series of unfortunate events the two delegates went their own separate ways - and there was some drama involved.

            The delegate of France reportedly wrote a part of Spain’s resolution and was a big part of the block too. However, later on in the conference when France went to write more - they found out they no longer had access to it. After that incident, France, understandably, decided to leave the group.

            The Journalist of the New York Times had the chance to talk to the delegate of France as they worked on their own draft resolution. According to France, who stayed diplomatic, it was all a disagreement, and currently the delegate is working with the global south. When asked about it, the delegate assured: “there is no bad blood”. France, however, does not know if the block of Spain kept what they wrote in their draft or not.

            Spain provided the New York Times with their own view on the events. According to Spain, it was an unfortunate miscommunication. The delegate went on explaining the chain of events and the motive they had to block France from the resolution and take their name off of the draft - The delegate of Spain was apparently trying to help get African countries to join their cause and so Spain changed the resolution and added a substantial difference to it by itself. Not knowing whether France will agree with the change or not, the delegate of Spain decided to block them and delete their mention from the draft: “it was a temporary block”. It is important to note that Spain is regretting the way they went about things, and apologized to France, yet they still wished that France would have talked to them about the issue instead of behind their back when they found out.

            When asked about their reformed resolution, the New York Times questioned whether Spain kept what France wrote in their draft despite the delegate leaving. Spain stated they do not know if they kept anything, and claimed that they barely wrote anything- though the NYT heard the opposite statement from other delegates in the committee.

Nevertheless, both parties individually told the paper that they are open to discussion, and that they do not hold grudges with the other country. Since Spain and France were great allies, it is a shame that such a thing drove them apart when they share similar ideas. Delegates in this committee will not be able to be “open to discussion” unless they get over the drama that occurred and pass a resolution to decriminalize abortion. Will they be able to do it? The New York Times will find out.