‘We should not let this situation develop for the worse,’ says former president of Finland

The former president of Finland and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Martti Ahtisaari said that the dismissed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont should have the opportunity to run in December 21 elections. "Now there will be an election, and all of the members of Catalonia's government that now has left the area have to be given the opportunity to take part (in the upcoming elections) as a candidate," pointed out Ahtisaari. ‘We should not let this situation develop for the worse,’ he added.

According to the online newspaper ‘EUobserver’, the former president of Finland, who has mediated several conflicts over more than three decades, said that the way the Catalan crisis has been managed is “unfortunate” and highlighted that "the actions of Spain were too hard." “I hope that Spain and Catalonia in some way or another (can sit down together) calmly," he said.