International professors criticize Spain’s attitude towards Catalan self-determination

International professors taking part in a seminar on self-determination in Barcelona on Thursday rejected the Spanish government’s attitude towards Catalonia’s demand to decide its political future. Moreover, the academics claimed that self-determination is not only something to be granted to colonies, but is a right for any people who wishes to exercise it. The experts also predicted that international organizations are more likely to support the Catalan government’s plans to hold a vote on October, 1 than states.

Boston University professor Liah Greenfeld told ACN that the Spanish executive’s rejection of the demand in Catalonia has no “legal validity”, although she believes it is to be expected that Madrid should try to block any secession within its borders. “I don’t think that it has anything to do with the concept of self-determination, it is not up to the Spanish government to decide whether the people of Catalonia want to be on their own,” she added.

Greenfeld also rejected the argument claiming that the right to self-determination can only be exercised by colonies. According to the professor, the concept was introduced by US President Woodrow Wilson after the First World War “very specifically to refer to nations” that were part of empires. “They were not colonies,” she pointed out, adding, “they referred simply to the right of those peoples, such as in Hungary, Slovakia, etc., to secede, to become sovereign nations.”