Europe should urge Spain to start dialogue on Catalonia, say MEPs

A group of European Parliament (EP) members visiting Catalonia on election day asked the European Union to respect the results of the vote: that is, the victory for pro-independence parties. The MEPs urged the EU to call on the Spanish government to open a dialogue with pro-independence leaders, and even suggested that the EU might act as a mediator.

“It is time for people to sit around the table and respect the fact that over two million people yesterday voted for pro-independence parties,” said Martina Anderson, an Irish MEP for the Sinn Féin and member of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL) group. “I think the EU has a role to play, perhaps mediating between the Spanish government and the Catalan government.”

The officials further demanded the release of imprisoned Catalan leaders. “We really urge that all the ministers who are still behind bars are released immediately and that political leaders in exile come back to take up their mandates as free men and women,” said Mark Demesmaeker, a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists EP group for the New Flemish Alliance.