Spanish Socialist leader insists on need for EU consensus against IS

Leader of the Spanish Socialist Party Pedro Sanchez on Friday highlighted the need for European unity and also called for a European intelligence service in order to combat the threat posed by Daesh (the Islamic State).

"We need to define a common EU strategy to respond to Daesh," said Sanchez, who said that key to his strategy to combat terrorism was the creation of "a European Intelligence Agency."

"It's clear that we need to strengthen European co-operation in intelligence," he stressed.

Sanchez gave his message in a specially arranged meeting with members of the foreign press corps in Madrid, just four weeks ahead of the Dec. 20 Spanish general election.

The Socialist candidate added that "the biggest blow to Daesh would be the end of the Syrian civil war, so bringing that about has to be a priority," although he made it clear he believed it "would be an error to send troops to Syria."

"The response has to be from those nations whose territorial integrity is being threatened. The international community has to support these nations ... militarily we have to involve Arab and Muslin counties in the fight against Daesh," commented Sanchez, who said that despite incidents such as the recent Paris attacks, which claimed 130 lives, Arabs and Muslims were "suffering more," pointing out recent terrorist attacks in Tunisia and Beirut as well as the ongoing Syrian civil war.

Sanchez said he was in favor of Spain accepting more refugees from the Syrian conflict and that his country needed to take a more active role in defining a common policy from people fleeing the conflict.

Finally Sanchez believes that in the case of a hung parliament, which looks likely after Dec. 20, his party was best placed to lead a coalition government, as the Socialists are "the only party with the capacity for dialogue and to reach agreements with possible political partners, the center-right Citizens and left wing group, Podemos. Endit