Ex-Catalan chief Puigdemont returns to Belgium from Germany
BRUSSELS — Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont returned to Belgium Saturday to drum up support for Catalonia’s separatist movement after Spain’s bid to extradite him on rebellion charges from Germany failed.
On arriving to Brussels, Puigdemont shook hands with other former members of his Cabinet who also fled Spain and the current regional president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, who had traveled from Spain to meet his predecessor.
Puigdemont said he will continue to travel around Europe in an attempt to explain the separatist position in wealthy Catalonia, which has so far failed to garner any support from European governments or major political parties.
“I have to continue doing my duty of fighting for fundamental rights denied by Spain,” Puigdemont said, while adding he has yet to plan his next move.
Puigdemont fled Spain in October following an illegal and ineffective declaration of independence by secessionist lawmakers in northeastern Catalonia.
He had been in Germany since March when he was arrested on a Spanish warrant while traveling by car from Finland back to Belgium.
But a Spanish judge withdrew the international warrant for Puigdemont and five other fugitive separatists after a German court refused to extradite him for rebellion.
Puigdemont can be arrested, however, if he returns to Spain. He will now return to a residence he established in a house in the town of Waterloo.
Spain has undergone a change in government since the Catalan political crisis exploded last year after conservative leader Mariano Rajoy lost a vote of confidence in June.
Since then, Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has met with Torra in an attempt to relax tensions between Madrid and Barcelona.
“We are all waiting to hear Pedro Sanchez’s answer to what he has recognized as a political problem,” Puigdemont said. “What is his response to the demand of self-determination of Catalonia?”