51% of Germans against Puigdemont’s extradition, shows survey

Over half of the German population, standing at 51%, does not want deposed Carles Puigdemont to be extradited back to Spain, according to a survey published by the German newspaper ‘Die Welt.’ The census, carried out by German research center Civey and released on ‘Die Welt’ on Thursday March 29, shows that those favorable of handing Puigdemont in to the Spanish authorities stands at 35%, while 14% doesn’t have an opinion on the matter.

The survey reflects discrepancies in Germany’s own political landscape. The majority of voters supporting the liberal-conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by German chancellor Angela Merkel, are in support of their country accepting Spain’s European arrest warrant for Puigdemont. In their case, 51% would follow the arrest warrant, while 33% would reject it.

Regards the second major party in the German government, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the survey is more balanced: 46% of its supporters are against the extradition, with 41% in favor. Moving both further left and right, 71% of voters for the Die Linke party (literally, “The Left,” consisting of the previous eastern communism movement) reject the extradition, while 66% of the far-right Alternative for Germany (the main opposition party) disagree with complying with the arrest warrant. 

Prison in Meumünster

This follows a European Arrest warrant issued by Spain against not only deposed president Carles Puigdemont, but also other pro-independence leaders abroad, issued by Spain on Friday. At the time, Puigdemont was traveling from Finland, where he had been invited to speak, back to Belgium, the country where he has been residing since late 2017. He was apprehended while driving in Germany, near the Danish border, with the four individuals with him also detained, and investigated for aiding and abetting.

The deposed Catalan president is currently being held in a prison in Neumünster, awaiting a decision on this preventative measure, which will then be followed by a judicial decision regarding the arrest warrant. In Catalonia, his detention has sparked large and tense protests in the last few days.