Comparing Spain with Turkey ‘inappropriate’ says EC
Spokesman refuses to comment on imprisonment of Catalan leaders and says European Commission position “unchanged”
Comparing Spain with Turkey over the arrest of deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is “inappropriate,” the European Commission (EC) said on Monday. The response from an EC spokesman came after a journalist asked how EC head, Jean-Claude Juncker, could denounce the violation of human rights in Turkey, “if an elected Catalan leader is imprisoned in Germany and other Catalan politicians are in prison for organizing a referendum.”
With the spokesman avoiding specific mention of Puigdemont, he insisted that the EC would not “evaluate” the legal situation of the Catalan politicians because the body does not comment on the judicial processes of member states. When further pressured by journalists to comment, the spokesman said that the EC’s position regarding the political situation in Catalonia “has not changed”.
The spokesman also avoided commenting on the Spanish government ignoring calls for dialogue with the Catalan executive made from European institutions. The spokesman would only say that Juncker was in touch with all European leaders, including Spanish president Mariano Rajoy, although he did not say whether they had spoken about the political situation in Catalonia.
Asked about the use of European arrest orders “to extradite political leaders for rebellion,” the EC spokesman limited his comments to saying it was a “legal procedure through which the judicial authorities of European Union member states cooperated.” However, some of the reporters pointed out that the orders were originally designed to make it easier to extradite people wanted for terrorism and people trafficking.