PP compares Catalan talk in the European Parliament to event “in a bar”

Brussels (CNA).- The Spanish People’s Party (PP) attacked on Monday the talk to be given by Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, in the European Parliament, saying it is going to be unsuccessful. The leader of the PP group in Brussels, Esteban González Pons, who has written to all his party colleagues asking them to avoid the event, said that the talk is only being held in a room inside the EP because three MEPs have “rented” it. “They have rented a room in the European Parliament, as they could have done in a bar or a cafeteria”, he said a day before the address. González Pons admitted that the room, the biggest in the building, may well be full of people on Tuesday evening, but only “Green MEPs, extreme-left MEPs” or even “extreme-right MEPs” will attend. In fact, the conservative politician added that the Catalan referendum, which has the support of 80% of people in Catalonia, is seen in Brussels as a “Spanish Brexit”. The talk is organised by Catalan MEPs Ramon Tremosa (ALDE), Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA) and Josep-Maria Terricabras (Greens/EFA). Other Catalan MEPs such as Francesc Gambús (EPP) and Ernest Urtasun (Greens) will also attend. 

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, the Vice President and Minister of Economy, Oriol Junqueras, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will defend in their address the Government plans to hold an independence referendum in 2017. Puigdemont and his two ministers, both of them in charge of the vote and former MEPs, will say that Catalonia is seeking an agreement with the Spanish government to hold a legally binding referendum but, so far, Madrid has repeatedly ruled out any discussion. The three politicians will warn that Catalonia will go ahead with the vote even if Spain continues to refuse to engage in negotiation and will defend that Catalonia is very pro-European and aims to stay in the EU.

The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alfonso Dastis, said last week that Madrid will confront “any attempt to justify what is not justifiable” in Brussels. Although he did not specify any particular action, the Spanish minister argued that a referendum in Catalonia is illegal and that the Spanish government is making sure everyone abroad understands “the legal parameters of Spain and the current situation”. In a letter to his European People’s Party (EPP) colleagues in Brussels, the Spanish MEP Esteban González Pons said that he will not attend the Catalan event because the referendum is “an unconstitutional act, which goes not only against Spain, but also against the deepest principles and values of the European Union”. “I ask you to not attend either. Your presence could be used to create the false impression that the European Parliament supports this call for an illegal referendum”, he added.

A Swedish MEP from the Green Party, Bodil Valero, regretted the Spanish government attitude. In an email also sent to all MEPs, Valero said that she will go to the event and hoped that “many others go too”. “Especially as I’ve heard that the Spanish authorities, just as they used to do, are trying to stop the talk”, she pointed out.