independence

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 with 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, he said. 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”. In a letter sent to all deputies, Swedish Green MEP Bodil Valero regretted the Spanish government efforts to boycott the event. 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 judicial process against Catalan politicians that helped to organise the non-binding consultation on independence on the 9th of November 2014 continues. The former Catalan Government spokesman and MP for the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDECAT) will definitely face trial after Spanish Supreme Court judge Andrés Palomo del Arco decided on Friday to start an oral case against him for alleged disobedience and administrative perversion. The Spanish public prosecutor wants Homs banned from office for a period of 9 years. The judge describes in his decision the events presented by the prosecution and says that they justify the start of trial. Former Catalan President Artur Mas, former Vicepresident Joana Ortega and former minister Irene Rigau are also facing trial for the same reason, although their case is being heard in the Catalan Supreme Court. Homs is facing the Spanish Supreme Court because he is currently a member of the Spanish Congress

“Tactfully, intelligently and with an open mind”. This is how German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the German institutions would react if they have to face a political conflict such as the Catalan one, according to the Secretary General of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat), Albert Royo. During a conference in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, in Germany, Royo said that Berlin’s attitude would be “different” to Madrid’s. Although the German Constitutional Court said recently that Bavaria does not have the right to hold an independence referendum, Royo argued the attitude would change if pro-independence forces in this bundesland were as big as they are in Catalonia. “In Bavaria the self-determination party represents 2% of Bavarians, and has no members of Parliament. The Catalan situation is completely different. 80% of Catalans want an independence referendum and there is an independence majority in Parliament”, he pointed out. “Merkel would have dealt with a situation like this one in a different way from the Spanish government”, he added.

“2017 represents the end of the pro-independence process and will mark the start of a new era for Catalonia”. This is what Carles Puigdemont proclaimed on Monday during a conference held a year after being instated as Catalan President. Puigdemont also insisted that the referendum on independence will take place and that it “will be binding because the people will participate and make it their own”. He also called on the Spanish Government “to accept the democratic mandate” and allow the referendum and warned that a ‘no’ “won’t be enough” to prevent the vote from happening. “I won’t accept a simple ‘no’, they’ll have to explain why Catalonia can’t hold a referendum as other countries do”, he stated. 

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, the Vice President and Minister of Economy, Oriol Junqueras, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Raül Romeva, will visit Brussels on the 24th of January to defend the Government plans to hold an independence referendum in 2017, the CNA has learnt. Puigdemont and his two more senior ministers, both of them former MEPs, will defend in the European Parliament Catalonia’s seeking of an agreement with the Spanish government to hold a legally binding referendum. However, they will point out that Madrid has repeatedly ruled out any discussion on the issue, arguing that a vote on independence is legally impossible. The Catalan President, the Vice President and the Foreign Affairs Minister will stress that Catalonia will celebrate the referendum even if Spain continues to refuse to engage in negotiation.

The Spanish Supreme Court’s Prosecutor is calling for the suspension of Catalan Minister and Catalan European Democratic Party (PDCeCAT) spokesperson in the Spanish Parliament, Francesc Homs, from holding public office for a 9-year period. Homs was accused of disobedience and perversion of justice for co-organising the 9-N symbolic vote on independence in 2014. This Wednesday, the Prosecutor’s temporary conclusions stated that former Catalan President, Artur Mas’ right-hand man “didn’t suspend any of the articles which allowed the consultation” and that he was “absolutely aware” that “by doing so he violated the mandatory compliance of the Spanish Constitutional Court’s decisions”.

Latvia’s Anti-fraud Office couldn’t find any evidence to prove that former Latvian Prime Minister, Valdis Dombrovskis, was bribed to back Catalonia’s pro-independence aspirations. In an exclusive interview with the CNA in 2013, Dombrovskis, who was still Latvia’s Prime Minister at the time, defended the possibility of his government recognising Catalonia’s independence as long as the process was “legitimate”. Soon afterwards, Spanish magazine ‘Interviu’, citing a Spanish police report, accused Dombrovskis of allegedly receiving 6 MEUR in exchange for expressing his support for Catalonia’s political aspirations. According to Latvia’s Anti-fraud Office spokeswoman, Laura Dusa, there are “no reasons to open a judicial process” because “there is no proof of a bribe”.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, called all members of the National Alliance for the Right to Self-Determination to a summit this Friday in order to find political and social consensus around the organisation of the referendum on independence to be held next September 2017. To achieve this, the National Alliance for the Referendum has been created, presided over by former Catalan Socialist, Joan Ignasi Lena. Representatives from all those political parties which support Catalonia’s right to decide, together with more than 3,000 civil society, business, cultural, sports and political organisations committed to launch a campaign to promote an agreed referendum with the Spanish State, specially oriented toward the international audience. Puigdemont called the meeting after finding that the Spanish Government’s repeated calls for dialogue have not resulted in any material actions. On the contrary, all the steps towards launching the pro-independence roadmap have been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) carried out this Wednesday its usual procedure and hand delivered the resolution notice which warns the Catalan executive of the criminal liability of launching the referendum plan. The document emphasised the magistrates’ duty to “impede or block” any initiative aimed at ignoring the TC suspension of the Government’s plan to call a referendum in Catalonia in September 2017. The notice warns Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, Catalan Vice President and Minister for Economy and Tax Office, Oriol Junqueras, along with the members in the Catalan executive of the “eventual charges” which they may face. On Tuesday, the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, and the members of the Parliament’s Bureau also received the same notice, which was hand delivered by judicial secretaries from Catalonia’s Supreme Court.

The dispute between Barça and UEFA over the display of Catalan independence flags, ‘estelades’, at the Camp Nou is definitely on track to reach a solution. The international body announced an agreement with FC Barcelona to end this litigation. The pact means that Barça will drop its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) over the economic sanctions imposed on the club, while UEFA compromises to establish a working group “involving both clubs and national associations to review the disciplinary framework” that nowadays prevents the display of political symbols in stadiums. The conflict began in the Champions League final in Berlin last year when a Ukrainian UEFA delegate, Anna Bordiugova, who was not in the Olympic Stadium, denounced the exhibition of 'estelades' after watching the game on television.

85% of Catalans are in favour of a referendum on independence, according to a poll published on Sunday by the newspaper ‘El Periódico’. Of all the respondents, 49.6% approve holding a referendum without the Spanish Government’s permission and 35% make it subject to the support of the state. Only 13.8% of the respondents are totally opposed to it. Regarding the result of the vote, “yes” to Catalonia’s independence prevails with 48.9%, in comparison to 40.3% against. The media outlet published this Monday another poll in which it points out that, in case of elections in Catalonia, pro-independence forces would maintain or even increase their absolute majority in the Parliament with between 69 and 73 seats. Currently, the governing cross-party list ‘Junts pel Sí’ (JxSí) and the radical left pro-independence CUP total 72 MPs, with 68 needed for a majority.

Representatives from several pro-independence civil society organisations joined Parliament President, Carme Forcadell, on her way to the Court. Forcadell testified this Friday for having allowed a democratic debate on Catalonia’s independence in the Catalan Chamber on the 27th of July. Pro-independence grass-roots organisations the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM) highlighted the wide support for the representative. Indeed, the President of AMI, Neus Lloveras, said that the backing for Forcadell was a “demonstration of the unity and strength” of the pro-independence movement in Catalonia. The president of the ANC, Jordi Sànchez, deemed Forcadell’s prosecution “absolutely unjustified” and the president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, said Catalonia is facing “a critical hour” and has to show “unity and firmness”.

The Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, testified before the Court this Friday for having allowed a democratic debate on Catalonia’s independence in the Catalan Chamber on the 27th of July. The Spanish Constitutional Court considered illegal her decision to do so and accused her of disobedience and perversion of justice. Forcadell’s prosecution has produced a huge political and civil response not only in Catalonia but throughout many countries in Europe. The institutional support for the Parliament’s President was made clear this morning, when the Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, together with the whole Catalan executive, members from radical left pro-independence CUP and alternative left alliance ‘Catalunya Sí que es Pot’ joined Forcadell on her way to the Court, together with hundreds of mayors from all over the territory and former top politicians such as former Catalan President Artur Mas.

Thousands of citizens have expressed their support for Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who faces trial on Friday for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote amongst the Catalan MPs. The main civil society pro-independence associations, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), Òmnium Cultural, the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) and also the Catalan Association of Municipalities (ACM) have called on citizens to hit the streets throughout Catalonia to support Forcadell. One of the main rallies took place on Barcelona’s Sant Jaume Square, which is between the Catalan Government’s headquarters, Palau de la Generalitat, and the Catalan capital’s City Hall. The prosecution of Forcadell and the judicial response of the Spanish Government to Catalonia’s pro-independence aspiration have also provoked international rejection and criticism across Europe.

The Spanish Constitutional Court (TC) suspension of the Parliament’s plan to call a referendum in Catalonia in September of next year has outraged many sectors of Catalan political and civil society. This Thursday, Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, stated that the TC’s decision “confirmed” the existence of “constitutional populism” in Spain which claims that “Catalans are not allowed to vote”. In response, assured Puigdemont, the Government will simply “apply democracy”. “Catalans have the right to vote, debate and hold meetings, therefore, we will vote, debate and hold meetings”, he stated. The Catalan President also took the chance to express his support and that of the whole executive for the Parliament’s President, Carme Forcadell, who will face trial on Friday for allowing the pro-independence roadmap to be put to vote in the Catalan Chamber last July.