Catalan Euro MPs ask the European Commission to give an opinion on recent military threats by Spanish nationalism

Brussels (ACN).- On Friday, Members of the European Parliament asked the European Commission what would it do in the case that Spain used force against the Catalan self-determination process, which has been spurred on in the last three weeks, since 1.5 million citizens demonstrated on the Barcelona streets asking for Catalonia’s independence. The Euro MPs from the Centre Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) – which runs the Catalan Government -, Ramon Tremosa, the Catalan Green Socialist Party (ICV), Raül Romeva, and the Galician Nationalist Party (BNG), Ana Miranda (representing its electoral ally, the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party, ERC), have asked the Commission “if it would suspend Spain’s rights as a Member State of the European Council in the case that force was used against the decisions of the Catalan Parliament”. In addition, they have asked the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, “to adopt measures” against one of his Vice Presidents, the Catalan Alejo Vidal-Quadras, “if he does not publicly apologise”. Vidal-Quadras, famous for his Spanish nationalist stance and statements against Catalan nationalism, said yesterday that “Catalonia’s autonomy should be suspended” and that “the Spanish Government should send a brigadier general to lead the Guardia Civil” in order to take control of Catalonia’s self-government institutions and police. Vidal-Quadras added “of course they [Catalan citizens] would demonstrate against this decision but, after a month, they would stop because people cannot make a living out of demonstrating”. In fact, since the massive independence demonstration, voices of the Spanish nationalism have been requesting not only to suspend Catalonia’s self-government institutions, but to undertake a military intervention. The request for a military intervention to take control of Catalonia has been repeatedly asked by retired members of the army and even by an army association. The Spanish Government has remained silent and has not adopted any disciplinary action.

“The EU is a political and economic union of 27 states, it is a peace project for Europe, a framework to respect democracy and human rights, a space of civil liberties, in which the citizenry can openly express itself, but respecting differences”, said Tremosa, Romeva and Miranda. CiU, ERC and ICV consider Vidal-Quadras’ statement to go against Catalan citizen democratic rights. Furthermore, they consider it to be unacceptable to use military threats to infer fear on to European citizens democratically and peacefully demonstrating and asking for a self-determination process.

The 3 Euro MPs asked Martin Schulz “to adopt measures” if Vidal-Quadras does not publicly apologise. Vidal-Quadras’ statement “does not honour the role of Vice President of the European Parliament, who has to promote EU values, such as peace and democracy”, they stated. “It is very important that the celebration of a referendum in Catalonia is developed in a framework of understanding, putting these dreadful threats to the side”, they emphasised.