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Jailed Spanish reporter in Poland freed as part of prisoner swap

A Spanish reporter of Russian origin held in Poland suspected of spying for Moscow is among 26 prisoners released Thursday in Ankara in a major swap involving Russia and Western nations.

Published: 2 August 2024 09:08 CEST

Jailed Spanish reporter in Poland freed as part of prisoner swap

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin welcomes Russian citizens released in a major prisoner swap with the West, at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on August 1, 2024. (Photo by Kirill ZYKOV / POOL / AFP)

“Journalist Pablo González, who was imprisoned in Poland for more than two years and five months on espionage charges, has been released and transferred for the time being to his country of birth,” his lawyer Gonzalo Boye said in a statement sent to AFP.

“This release has taken place in the framework of an exchange between Russia and Poland of journalists imprisoned in both countries,” the statement added.

The Turkish presidency, which coordinated the prisoner exchange, said it had included Pavel Aleksevich Rubtsov, the name on Gonzalez’s Russian passport.

A US official confirmed that a man with that name, who was detained in Poland, was among those released and going to Russia.

González, who worked for private Spanish television channel La Sexta and online newspaper Público, was detained at the Polish-Ukrainian border in February 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Poland’s counter-intelligence agency ABW accused González of being an agent of Russia’s military intelligence services GRU.

Born in Russia, González moved to Spain with his mother after his parents divorced when he was nine.

On the two-year anniversary of his arrest in February, Spain called on Poland to present “whatever evidence there may be” against him and to bring him to trial as soon as possible.

Ten Russians, including two minors, were exchanged for 16 westerners and Russians detained in Russia, said a statement released by the Turkish presidency, who coordinated the swap.

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Migrant influx fuels debate in Spain over illegal migration

The issue was thrust into the spotlight during a three-day visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to West Africa which wrapped up Thursday.

The trip was aimed at curbing the record number of unauthorised migrants arriving in the Atlantic archipelago in search of a better life in Europe.

“Spain is committed to safe, orderly and regular migration,” the Socialist premier said soon after he arrived Tuesday in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania, in the first stop of his tour which also included Gambia and Senegal.

He called for “circular migration” schemes which allow people to enter Spain legally to work for a limited time in sectors like agriculture, which face labour shortages during harvest time, before returning home.

READ ALSO: Mauritania and Spain pledge cooperation on migration

“Immigration is not a problem, it is a necessity that comes with certain problems,” Sánchez said.

His comments were immediately blasted by Spain’s main opposition Popular Party (PP), which said the statements would encourage more migrants to try to enter the country illegally at a time when the Canary Islands is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants.

Nearly every day, Spain’s coastguard rescues a boat carrying dozens of African migrants towards the seven-island archipelago located off the northwest coast of Africa.

Over 22,000 migrants have landed in the Canary Islands so far this year, compared to just under 10,000 during the same time last year.

The archipelago received a record 39,910 migrants in 2023, a figure it is on track to surpass this year.

‘Irresponsible’

“It is irresponsible to encourage a pull effect in the worst irregular migration crisis,” PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said, accusing Sánchez of going to Africa to “promote Spain as a destination” for migrants.

This is “the opposite” of what other nations in the European Union are doing, he added.

During the final leg of Sánchez’s tour in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, he appeared to take a harder tone by stressing that human trafficking rings that organise boat crossings to Spain sometimes have links to terrorist networks or drug smuggling gangs.

He said security was a “top priority” and said it is “essential to return those who have come to Spain illegally”.

Deportations, however, require the agreement of the country of origin of a migrant, which is not easy to get.

‘Contradictory’

Cristina Monge, a political scientist at the University of Zaragoza, said Sánchez had tried to strike a balance in his comments on the issue in Africa but his message was “a bit contradictory”.

His first speech in Mauritania came “from a European, human rights perspective” but when he talked about the need for deportations the support “he gains on the right, he loses on the left,” she told AFP.

While the PP welcomed Sánchez’s sudden emphasis on security, hard-left party Sumar — the junior coalition partners in his minority government — immediately opposed it.

“Following the same migration recipes called for by the right is a failure and a mistake,” Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, who founded Sumar, wrote on X.

With the number of crossing attempts expected to increase further in the coming weeks as Atlantic waters become calmer, the controversy is expected to intensify, especially since the PP has hardened its position on the issue in recent years in response to the rise of far-right party Vox which is hostile to immigration.

The Spanish government estimates there are some 200,000 people in Mauritania waiting to go to the Canaries. The bulk of them are from Mali where a military regime is battling an Islamist insurgency.

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