EUROPE BACKS SPAIN ON ITS REFERENDUM CRISIS
European Commission calls for unity and dialogue as it urges an end to ‘fragmentation’ amid Catalan plea to Brussels to stop looking the other way
The European Commission threw beleaguered Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy a lifeline yesterday in the crisis triggered by the police suppression of Sunday’s Catalan referendum by saying that it regards the issue as an internal matter for Spain.
While condemning the violence, which resulted in almost 900 people being injured after security forces closed polling stations and dispersed crowds of voters with baton charges and rubber bullets, the commission urged Spanish unity and talks between both sides in the dispute.
“We call on all relevant players to now move very swiftly from confrontation to dialogue. Violence can never be an instrument in politics,” the EU executive’s chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas said.
Mr Schinas revealed that the commission president JeanClaude Juncker was to speak with the Spanish prime minister yesterday, and called for an end to the “divisiveness and fragmentation” that the Catalan referendum had brought about.
He also refused to attribute blame for the violence that took place during voting in Sunday’s poll, which was illegal under Spain’s constitution.
“Under the Spanish constitution, yesterday’s vote in Catalonia was not legal,” the EC statement said. “As president Juncker has reiterated repeatedly, this is an internal matter for Spain that has to be dealt in line with the constitutional order in Spain.”
Were Catalonia to secede, it would have to leave the EU and apply to rejoin – but its re-entry would have to be supported by Madrid. Relations between the Catalan authorities in Barcelona and the national government are at their lowest ebb in years.
“We also reiterate the legal opinion held by this commission as well as by predecessors – namely that if a referendum were to be organised in line with the Spanish constitution it would mean that the territory leaving would find itself outside the European Union,” Mr Schinas said.
“Beyond the purely legal aspects of this matter, the commission believes that these are times for unity and stability, not divisiveness and fragmentation.
“We trust the leadership of prime minister Mariano Rajoy to manage this difficult process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and of the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined therein.”
The EU is haunted by the spectre of regional secession, as there are many countries across the 28-nation union that are also attempting to dampen down the flames of nationalism in provinces with them.
In other developments, Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Catalonia, called for international mediation to resolve the stand-off that resulted in a day of uneasy peace on the streets of Barcelona before a general strike that has been called for today.
“It is not a domestic matter,” Mr Puigdemont told a news conference yesterday. “It’s obvious that we need mediation,” although he cast doubt on whether the EU could fulfil this role, saying that they had been timid and lacking courage in dealing with the affair so far. He pleaded with the commission “to stop looking the other way” in relation to the referendum.
He doubled down on his declaration of Sunday night that “Catalonia’s citizens had earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic”, saying that “there is no other option – the Catalan parliament must apply the results [of the referendum] and take political decisions”.
Mr Puigdemont took aim also at the Spanish security forces, whose actions against peaceful demonstrators shocked many observers.
“We demand the withdrawal of the state police forces that have been deployed in a country that has always acted peacefully,” he said.
The Catalan leader said he would oversee the setting up a commission to investigate the alleged breach of “fundamental rights” that had taken place during the referendum process.
The Spanish government showed few signs of bowing to international outrage at the actions of security forces on Sunday.
Justice minister Rafael Catala even threatened to use the constitutional power at his disposal to suspend Catalan’s existing autonomy, should Mr Puigdemont declare independence for the region.
“We will use the entire force of the law. Our obligation is to resolve problems and we will do it, even though using certain measures might hurt,” he said.
Meanwhile, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, yesterday said: “With hundreds of people reported injured, I urge the Spanish authorities to ensure thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all acts of violence.
“Police responses must at all times be proportionate and necessary.”
Attention now turns to today’s general strike, which was called on Sunday night by a collection of pro-independence groups and trade unions.
The concern is that with tensions on the streets of Catalonia remaining high, any provocation on either side could lead to further violence.
Attention now turns to today’s general strike, which was called by pro-independence groups and trade unions