Council for the Republic presented in Brussels

The Council for the Republic, an organization working towards Catalan independence headed by exiled pro-independence leaders, was presented on December 8 in Brussels. The event was attended by Catalan president Quim Torra, as well as his predecessor Carles Puigdemont (currently exiled in Belgium).

Puigdemont spoke at the event and said that without unity, the Catalan pro-independence movement will lose "moral authority." Inasmuch, the former president deposed by Article 155 defended the Council as a tool to "conjure strategic unity." "There's a call for unity running through Catalonia," said Puigdemont, "and we should listen to it."

"There's a call for unity running through Catalonia," said Puigdemont, "and we should listen to it." The former president also asked for citizens to support the council to achieve “the hardest goal of all: for the Catalan state to be recognized,” which he deemed as “one of the great objectives” of the organization, which he posited “will go further than institutions were able to go.”

“Today, in the European Union, there are six countries with fewer inhabitants than the number of Catalans who voted ‘yes’ during the October 1 referendum,” said Puigdemont, who further urged the audience that it is necessary to “be many and to persist, without fear.”