Norwegian Minister of European Affairs says Spain “has the democratic procedures” to deal with Catalonia’s push for independence

Oslo (CNA).- Norway’s European Affairs minister, Vidar Helgesen, says he is “confident” that Spain “has the democratic procedures” to deal with Catalonia’s independence process. He made this statement in an interview with CNA and added that “Norway is certainly observing” the situation in Catalonia but as they did regarding the Scottish case they are “not commenting on this issue at this stage”, he said. However, Helgesen pointed out that “any fragmentation” process is a “demanding situation for all the international organisations, not only NATO” but assured that “there are procedures to handle these issues if and when they arise”.

The minister outlined that Catalonia’s political future is “certainly making the news all over Europe, including Norway” but is a national matter and “the beauty of national democracy is that it is for nationals to discuss” and not up to “outsiders to have any opinions on the way forward”. Helgesen, who besides being Norway’s European Affairs Minister is also Prime Minister Erna Solberg’s Chief of Cabinet, stated that the key part of mediation is that “the two or more parties involved in a situation have to accept it”. As long as this is guaranteed there is “no reason for a third party to have aspirations of that kind”, he added.

When asked about his position regarded Catalonia’s independence process, Helgesen said that he is “confident” that “Spain has democratic procedures that will be able to deal with this issue”, although he did not specify concretely any particular mechanism. Minister Helgesen was reluctant to give details of what would be the Norwegian response should Catalonia declare independence, but said that they will “play along with international rules”.

Fitting into the EU

Regarding Catalonia’s fitting into the EU, Minister Helgesen admitted that it “is impossible to give an answer on all these issues” as the situation is still hypothetical. However, he recalled former President of the European Commission José Manuel Durão Barroso’s statement about the Scottish case. Barroso said that in the event Scotland became an independent country they “won’t automatically enter the EU”.

Norway is not in the EU because it decided in two different referendums, in 1972 and in 1994, to remain outside of the bloc. However, Minister Helgesen assured that “Norway is deeply participating in EU integration”. “Norway is part of the single market”, he stated, emphasising that “three-quarters of EU legislation is imported to Norway, enabling us to play by the same rules in single market terms”. Minister Helgesen also highlighted Norway’s “full integration” into Schengen, which allows them to take part in the freedom of movement policy.

Security and NATO

Regarding Catalonia’s participation in NATO and security policy of the EU, Minister Helgesen admitted that “any country in Europe, new or old would want to ensure as much security as possible” but added that it “is impossible to say in advance what would happen”. He assured again that international organisations have ways of resolving such issues “in the event that they arise”. He cited the example of the Balkans conflict to explain that Serbia “inherited Yugoslavia’s position in the global and European system” but other countries “applied for membership” and were accepted afterwards. “That’s why I said there are procedures” to handle such a situation.