Spain’s opposition parties are demanding the removal from office of the country’s Ambassador to the UK Federico Trillo and it now looks very likely that their demands might well be met.
It seems that Span are now in the process of initiating his recall after his dismissal was demanded by both the opposition and relatives of 62 Spanish peacekeepers who died when a Russian-built plane in which they were traveling over Turkey crashed as they returned from duties in Afghanistan.
The crash occurred in 2003 following which mistakes were made with the identification of a number of the bodies with 30 families being given the wrong remains. Although Gen Vicente Navarro, who led the medical team that flew to Turkey to repatriate the bodies, was given a 3 year jail sentence following the debacle, Trillo is being held as ultimately responsible as he was defence minister at the time.
Trillo’s replacement is taking place as part of a general reshuffle of top diplomatic posts although the Association of Victims of the Yak-42 Flight said in a statement on Wednesday that it would not accept Trillo’s recall being disguised as part of a routine recall of diplomats, adding that it opposed an outcome where he was offered another job elsewhere in Spain’s public service.
The opposition Socialist, Podemos and Ciudadanos parties, as well as pressure groups linked to relatives of the victims, hold Trillo responsible for what they regard as the fiasco of the crash and its aftermath.
A cabinet meeting recently concluded that the defense ministry could have had some responsibility in the events that led to the death of 62 peacekeepers.
