European Parliament VP’s words asking for a military intervention in Catalonia “scandalise” the Greens and Liberals

Brussels (ACN).- The statements made by the European Parliament’s Vice-President, Alejo Vidal-Quadras, continue to raise controversy, especially after Martin Schulz’s cold answer on Wednesday and Vidal-Quadras’ letter to all the MEPs. Guy Verhofstadt, Chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), stated on Thursday that Vidal-Quadras’ words asking for a military intervention in Catalonia to stop its self-determination process remind him of “the darkest days of the 20^th century”. The same day, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-Chairman of the Greens and Europe Free Alliance group (Greens/EFA), criticised  the “scandalous statements” made by Vidal-Quadras, a Catalan MEP famous for his anti-Catalan nationalist stances. Schulz considered Vidal Quadras’ words to be “a personal opinion” and backed by “the freedom of expression”. He also refused to take any further measures and said that Catalan voters were those to judge Vidal-Quadras, who was elected from a closed party list in a single Spanish constituency. After Schulz’s open letter, Vidal-Quadras sent a letter on Wednesday evening to all the MEPs and staff stating that Catalonia’s “separatist attack has nothing of being peaceful or democratic”. He also emphasised that he “will defend without any doubts” Spain’s unity. On Thursday, after the criticism coming from the ALDE and the Greens/EFA, Vidal-Quadras published in his blog that the previous week’s statement was “ironical” and accused the Catalan nationalists of being “totalitarian” for not tolerating discrepancies.

“Sending a Brigadier General of the Guardia Civil to take control” in Catalonia

Last week, in a talk show on a Spanish nationalist and ultra-conservative TV channel, Vidal-Quadras had asked the Spanish Government to “send a Brigadier General of the Guardia Civil to take control” of the Catalan self-government institutions and police. The Guardia Civil is a military police corps, which participated in the coup d’état of 1981 by halting the Spanish Parliament.

Similar to “undefendable actions of the regimes facing the Arab Spring”, said Verhofstadt

Guy Verhofstadt, who is a former Prime Minister of Belgium and leads the ALDE with 86 MEPS, compared this “violent repression against part of the population” with the “undefendable actions of the regimes facing the Arab Spring, who tried to repress the people’s will by using force”. Considering Schulz’s cold answer and implicit backing up to Vidal-Quadras, Daniel Cohn-Bendit – from the Greens/EFA with 54 MEPs – asked for “a formal debate on the issue in the next Conference of Presidents in Strasbourg”.

Protests from Catalonia and Catalan MEPs

Three Catalan MEPs formally protested before the President of the European Parliament against Vidal-Quadras’ statements and asked the European Commission to give its say on the issue. So far, the European Commission has not assessed Vidal-Quadras' words. The Catalan MEPs were pushing for an apology or the adoption of disciplinary measures. In addition, 40,000 letters from outraged Catalan citizens were sent to Schulz, who acknowledged their reception. In his open letter on Wednesday, Schulz considered the case closed and said Catalan voters were those to judge Vidal-Quadras, who was elected from a closed party list in a single Spanish constituency.