'It's shocking so few people are ready to speak out,' says EU-Catalonia Dialogue Platform

Members of the European Parliament presented on Friday in Barcelona the EU-Catalonia Dialogue Platform and regretted the "unacceptable silence" of the EU institutions over the situation in the country. "It's shocking that so few people are ready to speak out," said the spokesman of the group, former Slovenian Foreign Affairs minister and liberal MEP Ivo Vajgl. "In the name of the European Parliament, I'm sorry for this silence. It's a shame what has happened in Europe," added Italian MEP Eleonora Florenza.

They are both part of a group of more than 30 MEPs from a dozen member states that are urging European institutions to get engaged in the Catalan crisis and mediate in order to find a political solution. "Democracy is all about understanding each other, speaking to each other, finding the way of compromise," said Ivo Vajgl. "I'm making no difference coming here between those that are pro-independence and those who are against. I'm ready to discuss with everybody and listen to their arguments," he added.