Corsican president supports Catalonia-Spain independence talks

The president of the Corsican executive council, Gilles Simeoni, expressed his support for the talks between Catalonia and Spain on the issue of independence. 

The leader of the French island met with Catalan president Pere Aragonès at the government headquarters in Barcelona on Friday morning before holding a brief press conference. Simeoni celebrated the negotiation process between members of the Spanish and Catalan executives before announcing the Corsican peoples' "solidarity" with the matter.

All "true European democrats" should back Catalonia's path to self-determination, the leader of the 'Inseme per a Corsica' (Together for Corsica) political party added.

Aragonès welcomed the words by highlighting the "common historical background" and "shared desire" uniting both territories. 

However, Simeoni admitted that Corsica and Catalonia do not have the same levels of success. While the French territory has attempted to get an autonomy statute for over 50 years, the Corsican leader explained, the Spanish one is holding meetings about the independence issue.

This is not the first time Aragonès and Simeoni meet, as both were in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference COP26. Later on, the two heads of government also saw each other in August while in Paris to take part in the 'Autonome ou indépendant. Mais Européens avant tout!' debate.

Talks on independence

Holding ongoing talks on Catalonia's independence is part of a political deal reached between senior coalition member Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and the Spanish Socialist party to support Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez's presidential bid.

The meetings between the Catalan and Spanish executives have been a constant source of confrontation within the Catalan coalition government, and so far, there have only been a total of three gatherings since February 2020. 

The last one was held in Madrid on July 27, when members of the Catalan and Spanish cabinets agreed to dejudicialize politics and protect the Catalan language.