Slovenian PM rejects Catalan comparisons

The prime minister of Slovenia, Marjan Sarec, rejected on Friday comparisons between his country's path to independence and the current conflict in Catalonia.

After a week of controversies regarding President Quim Torra's comments on Slovenia, Sarec said that he is "not satisfied" with Slovenia "being used in the struggle of half the population of Catalonia for independence."

 "We don't see any parallels between Catalonia and Slovenia, and we wouldn't be happy if this continued,"he added.

Sarec said Slovenia "always acted peacefully and legally" to achieve statehood.

The Slovenian prime minister said he was not informed of the meeting between the Slovenian President, Borut Pahor, and the Catalan leader Quim Torra, who made a two-day trip to the Balkan country.

Torra also met the speaker of the Slovenian parliament and members of the Foreign Affairs committee of the chamber.

"We respect the internal affairs of Spain," said the Slovenian prime minister, highlighting that "the Constitution of Spain doesn't allow independence."

Sources in the Slovenian Foreign ministry and the Spanish Foreign ministry confirmed this week to Catalan News that a meeting was planned between officials from both countries to discuss the controversy regarding Torra's trip to the country.

However, after meeting Spanish president Pedro Sánchez in the margins of the EU summit in Brussels, Sarec said there won't be any meetings. "There was no meeting planned, it was a misunderstanding of the media," he said, adding that Slovenia and Spain have a "good relationship" and "no problems."