Catalan leader says Europe can’t ignore independence vote
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The leader of Catalonia accused the European Union on Wednesday of “turning its back” on the Spanish region in its conflict with the central government over a disputed independence vote planned for Sunday that Spanish authorities have vowed to prevent.
“They are very brave when they talk about other countries where they have no competencies, but where are they when we citizens need them?” Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said of EU o cials four days before the secession referendum. “Is Europe’s solution to Catalans to turn its back?”
Puigdemont also told The Associated Press he intends to make the divisive matter of Catalonia’s independence into a European a air rather than just a domestic issue.
“If the yes wins, I will make an appeal for the European community to become involved, because we will have won our right to be heard, something that hasn’t happened until now because the European Commission has always turned a deaf ear (to Catalonia),” the 54-yearold separatist leader said.
Sunday’s vote, Puigdemont said, will allow Europe to “hear the voice of Catalonia in a very loud and strong way.”
No country, within or outside the European Union, has openly expressed support for the Oct. 1 referendum that Spain’s conservative government sees as illegal. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he thought it would be “foolish” for Catalans to break away from Spain.
“Whoever doesn’t want to hear our voice needs to see a political otolaryngologist,” Puigdemont said, using the formal term for an ear, nose and throat specialist.
He added that if European Commission president Jean Claude-Juncker cannot grasp the determination in Catalonia, “then it’s because this (European) project is in bad hands.”
Spain’s Constitutional Court, which has previously ruled that only central authorities can call such a vote and that all Spanish nationals should vote on sovereignty matters, has suspended the referendum.