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Updated 12.58pm
FORMER CATALAN LEADER Carles Puigdemont says he isn’t planning to demand asylum in Belgium, and is only in Brussels ‘for safety purposes’.
Puigdemont had fled Catalonia in the aftermath of Spain’s central government dissolving the regional parliament and effectively seizing control of the area.
This afternoon, Puigdemont broke his silence on his Belgian visit, telling a televised news conference he is in Belgium “for safety purposes and freedom”.
“I am not here in order to demand asylum,” he said, but declined to say how long he would stay.
He added that his region’s independence drive should “slow down” to avoid unrest as Madrid imposes direct rule on Catalonia, a move opposed by many.
“We can’t build a republic for all on violence,” he said, adding that if that meant “slowing down the development of the republic, then we must consider that a reasonable price to pay”.
Puigdemont likewise said he was willing to accept the ‘challenge’ of elections called for Catalonia on 21 December, adding that he would ‘respect’ the result. However, he called on Spain to likewise respect the result were it not to go the government’s way:
I want a clear commitment from the state. Will the state respect the results that could give separatist forces a majority?
Rebellion charges
Puigdemont spoke with a lawyer in Belgium yesterday as Spanish prosecutors sought rebellion charges against the region’s separatist leaders.
But Paul Bekaert, who specialises in asylum issues, said “Puigdemont is not in Belgium to request asylum”, only to prepare a legal riposte to any eventual moves by Madrid.
“On this matter (asylum) nothing has yet been decided,” he told Flemish television VRT.
“I spoke with him personally in Belgium… and he officially made me his lawyer.
“I have more than 30 years of experience with the extradition and political asylum for Spanish Basques, and it’s probably because of this experience that he came to me.”
Spanish media outlets reported that Puigdemont was travelling with several members of his axed government.
Bekaert was one of the lawyers for Luis Maria Zengotitabengoa, a suspected member of the armed Basque separatist group ETA, whose extradition from Belgium to Spain was authorised in 2010.
Spain’s chief prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza said he was seeking charges including rebellion — punishable by up to 30 years in prison — and sedition against the Catalan leaders who were sacked by Madrid on Friday.
Maza said they had “caused an institutional crisis that led to the unilateral declaration of independence carried out on 27 October with total contempt for our constitution.”
A court now has to decide whether to bring charges.
Threat of persecution?
But several experts said it seemed unlikely that Puigdemont would be able to secure the status of political refugee in Belgium.
“It’s quite exceptional to obtain asylum for a citizen of a European Union country,” Dirk Van Den Bulck of Belgium’s CGRA refugee agency told RTBF television.
He would have to prove a “threat of persecution” in his country of origin and an impossibility of being protected there, Van Den Bulck said, which would be a direct contradiction of “the respect of fundamental rights” required of all EU members.
Belgium’s immigration minister, a member of the Flemish separatist N-VA party, suggested Saturday that Puigdemont could receive asylum.
But Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel later poured cold water on the idea, and an N-VA spokesperson told AFP the party had not invited Puigdemont to Brussels.
Puigdemont maintains that the result of the banned independence referendum on October 1 gave the region’s parliament a mandate to declare Friday that it was breaking away from Spain.
Following this declaration, Madrid sacked Catalan’s leaders and took control of the semi-autonomous region under a previously unused “nuclear option” in the constitution.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy called snap elections for December 21 to replace the Catalan parliament in a bid to stop the secessionist drive.
The European Union has largely spurned the independence declaration, and several EU institutions told AFP that no meetings are planned with Puigdemont in Brussels.
First published 8.20am
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Madrid is playing an absolute blinder in making sure that Catalonia will be independent.
@Colin Morris:
You may be pro independence whereas I think it would be a mistake but on this point we are 100% in agreement, (very rare!!) the Madrid government have been utter fools on this issue.
@Colin Morris: I hope they hunt the little runt down. the coward must pay for his treason :)
@brian hardy: he has played a blinder in running to Brussels, drag them as deep into this as possible. Will they allow an EU arrest warrant to be issued and allow him to be arrested and extradited from Brussels? A very clever move.
@Colin Morris: Jail him for treason
@Paul Fahey: Actually Belgium is the only country in Europe that will grant Political Asylum to a citizen of another EU country. So a European Arrest warrant would have no effect if Political Asylum is granted. And as such there would be no issue. But for all your own blind hatred of the EU you seem to be forgetting or ignoring the fact that even the most extreme independence parties in Catalonia are all Pro EU.
@Mick Jordan: only he hasn’t claimed political asylum has he, so your point is moot.
@Mick Jordan: further, perhaps you could point out the hatred toward the EU I have posted. Hatred, not facts, stats, figures, but hatred, now off you go.
@Paul Fahey: Your vitriol towards the EU is well known on the Journal. So I will leave that to the readers to decide for themselves. Secondly if my point is not then so is your original post about European Arrest Warrants. Unless Puigdemont plans on remaining in Belgium indefinitely which would put pay to the line he will stand in the new elections. Time is on the Spanish Governments side. They can wait, Puigdemont can’t, every day he remains away from his supporters the more and more isolated he and they become.
@Mick Jordan: time to put up Mick, please post some vitriolic quotes of mine towed the EU, then the quotes of hatred or are you just making things up in a tantrum? Not agreeing with the EU is not vitriolic, nor a display of hatred, now run along and post them. I am looking forward to them.
So Puigdemont went to a lawyer who specializes in asylum and has 30 years experience in political asylum from the basque region but he’s not there to seek asylum. Yeah right!
@Jane: Must be taking advice from our own Liz “they aren’t bonuses they are performance related increases” Arnett
@Jeffrey McMahon: did she actually say that?
@Jane: coward do what cowards do
As an Irish pacifist I applaud the Catalan leadership and see this internal challenge to the European project as a moment of decision for democracy.
@feargal de cantuin: you don’t an independent Catalonia would apply to join the EU?
@feargal de cantuin: You may be fooling yourself thinking you are a pacifist. The EU has its root in preventing any more wars between European Countries. Cheering on division is hardly peace making.
@Tom Molloy: are you saying there has been no conflict during the EU years? Just up the M1 from Dublin saw considerable conflict, as did other nations too.
@Paul Fahey: How many million were killed ?
People keep dipping into history saying that Catalonia was once an Independent Kingdom. In truth it was part of the Kingdom of Aragon. Who’s ruler Queen Isabella united Aragon with the Kingdom of Castille under King Ferdinand to form the Kingdom of Spain. So it was never an Independent State in its own right. The Catalonians may have their own language and customs but then so does the different Cantons of Switzerland with 4 Offical languages, or Belgium with 2 even here in Ireland we have 2 Offical languages. Sure while we are at it let the Northern League in Italy break up Italy back to its former historical City States. And we can do the same here with the Kingdoms of Leinster, Munster Connacht and Ulster. You can’t turn the Clock back to what once was.
@Mick Jordan: you do realise that Belgium had a political impasse from 2007 to 2011 and many of the areas are virtually run as separate states? You also failed to recognise that Catalonia was recognised as a nationality in 1979 and the language survived the brutal oppression of Franco. Ultimately this is about the will of the people and it is undemocratic not to allow a vote on self determination.
@Paul Fahey: And as for the will of the Catalonian people that will be heard when the new elections take place. If the Independence side win a majority, then they will have a mandate to seek a change in the Spanish Constitution to allow regions to become independent. But if the Unionist side win that will put the Independence movement aside for at least a generation if not more. But you can’t call Independence when 60% of the voting public obeyed the Law and did not vote in an Illegal referendum. Only a legal and legitimate vote will show how the Majority of Catalans feel.
@Mick Jordan: I’d say a fair few of them stayed away due to the threat of violence from the Spanish “authorities”. Call another referendum, don’t label it as unlawful, and let the people decide freely.
@Paul Fahey: well that happened in 1978. And the brutal repression? Can you please provide examples? See thats the whole point you guys keep talking but you don’t know the facts. With all the respect.
Catalan was not official ( which of course is wrong) but it wasnt brutally repressed. It was tought in school from 1967. The level and amount of propaganda you guys are respuesta willing yo take it’s simply shocking.
@La Massa: you were doing well with your attempt of English until the last paragraph. The Catalan language was outlawed under the Franco regime. Slow day at the Spanish embassy?
Has Puigdemont realised that he has bitten off more than he can chew?
@sean o’dhubhghaill: reminds me of the former Greek finance minister Varoufakis, stir it up and run away.
Obviously not prepared to accept the consequences of his actions. Stirred up the pot and ran away. In all reality what did he expect the Spanish Government to do. Sit on their hands.
POLITICAL CLOWN TURNS UP IN BRUSSELS. Meanwhile back in the real world!
francos men in madrid are showing that a leopard never changess its spots.
@Sean Conway: Franco?? You are close to 40years out of-date. We are in 2017. This man tried to split up a country. Very dangerous.
@James Maloney: It’s very much the way he left it. ultra conservative with a royal dynasty. no social welfare system. only one for the wealthy.
@Sean Conway: Err…have you actually been to Spain?
@Harry Whitehead: The british community were setting up foodbanks for the spanish at the height of the 2008 crash. otherwise they would have nothing to eat. because there is no welfare for the poor.
So part of the catalan fascist government going to belgium while asking the rest of their people to fight. Fascists are always cowards…
@La Massa: yes indeed.
And fascist Madrid will soon lose Catalonia.
December’s independence referendum will make sure of that.
@La Massa: How can wanting independence make the Catalans fascists? Especially when they expressed it in a peaceful manner.The EU arse-licking Madrid government are the real fascists.Brave people those Spanish,kicking the crap out of elderly folk who were behaving with dignity.The Spanish are nothing more than bullying cowards.
@Colin Morris: Spain = 3rd world country propped up by Germany,oops, I mean the EU.
@La Massa: he is the definition of a coward. i hope he rots in a prison cell
@La Massa: Puigdemont is hardly a fascist even by the furthest stretch of the imagination. He has called for peaceful protests against article 155, which has installed an unelected President of Catalunya. So far all those protests have been peaceful. On the contrary, the pro unity protesters, with their Spanish flags, have been seen smashing windows of Catalan institutions. Rajoy and the king should be calling for the same peaceful demonstrations. Otherwise they will continue to be seen as facists. living here, I know which demonstration I’d rather avoid whilst out on the streets with my family.
@Rob Nolan: sorry. With all my due respect. I don’t engage with people who doesnt have a clue about my region and my country. Hope you’ll understand.
@La Massa: I don’t get your point. I’m living in Catalunya. My son was born here and goes to school here. He was raised to respect the police but wonders why the guardia civil acted so violently. My point was, that I don’t see Puigdemont as a Facist nor do i see his supporters as such and I fear more the pro unity demonstrations than the pro independence demonstrations due to the violence enacted by some of those demonstrators.
@Rob Nolan: me living in Ireland for more than 10 years my kid is irish and i still don’t give you lessons about irish polítics…. You have no clue… Sorry.
@La Massa: Nobody is giving you lessons in Spanish politics. I simply said Puigdemont is no fascist by any stretch of the imagination. I also implied that I’m not happy how Rajoy handled things and his strong arm tactics were seen as more fascist than peaceful protests. Dialogue was ignored on both sides and the mess got bigger. That’s my opinion and I’m entitled to express it without you telling me I haven’t a clue.
@Rob Nolan: ok breaking our own catalan law and imposing by force to the majority of us a referendum being a minority in votes ( both facts) is being a real democrat. You really know…
@Rob Nolan: Hi Rob; I am in a similar situation to you – Irish/Catalan – and agree with your point of view. The Catalan government has tried to implement every democratic option available to them. It is by no means fascist. Every action taken has been in the interest of the people who voted for them. They are an extremely pacific people. You cannot impose a referendum on people, as one of the comments below implies.
Imposition is more common practice among the Partido Popular; denying the right to a referendum, dismissing the head of the Catalan police force (Mossos) for resisting the violence against Catalan and Spanish civilan voters, sending people to prison for believing in a nation, bending the law to take away the right to govern and now calling the President of the Generalitat to court to face a 30 prison sentence!! Disgraceful! Shameful!
@Ruth Murray: Nice to hear a similar voice Ruth.
Well said.
These Franco comparisons are truly pathetic. It is the same as the antifas calling anyone who disagrees with their views of the moment fascist.
The downgrading/politicisation of the teaching of history is responsible for this ignorance about what real fascism was.
The Spanish Government are following the law as it exists at the moment. Puigdemont pushed it too far against the will of the majority in Catalonia and has now done a runner, unprepared to face up to the consequences of his actions.
If it was the Franco era he would probably be dead by now.
I’m getting use to the catalan fascist government speaking on my name. But not sure if I can handle irish people who don’t have a clue speaking on my name… Too much…
@La Massa: It’s a comments board and people are giving their opinions. Get over yourself.
@Jamie McCormack: of course. That was my opinion… :)
Judging by the way that the Spanish police treated it’s citizens with violence he WILL be persecuted therefore should be allowed to seek asylum. This is only going to strengthen the resolve of the Catalonia people.It will not be going back to “normality” any time soon.
This definitely will affect tourism in Spain.
I’m heading to Racca next year for me holliers!
Lovely beaches there.
Spaniards calling for Puigdemont to be jailed!!?! If I was a Catalan who was on the fence in terms of Indepence, with every passing day I would be more and more swayed to get away from Madrid and such opinion
Its incredible that in the EU a nation can disenfranchise a region, and using legislation negotiated by a Dictator declare the opposition criminals!! It is incredible, Spain has no moral credibility and if Spain decends into violence (which is highly likely given the right wing nuts in power) – it will have to be suspended from EU. The EU launched a war via its military arm NATO against Serbia over the unilateral and violent declaration of Imndependance by Kosovo so I guess Karma and all that comes back to bite.
@Austin Rock: Apart from Franco having been dead when the current Spanish constitution was drafted amd ratified, the EU not having ‘disenfranchised’ anyone and your casual omission of a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign launched by Serbian nationalists, everything else in your fact-free post was absolutely correct.
@Austin Rock: Tosh. Spain is following the law and this has been recognised internationally hence the near unanimous global support for the Spanish Government. A country can only be suspended from the EU if it uses the military against its own people. This hasn’t and will not happen though I’m sure some of the nuts cheering on the Catalan independence would love to see violence for their own selfish aims.
Belgium.!politically more advantageous to stay at home and let the Spanish Government bring the secessionist to trial,
Puigdemont abandoned his people ,he goes to the centre of the european political est ,seeking an honest hearing ,after blatantly undermining the political and democratic goal of the european union ,he should be raced out of town,he has done enough damage ,to both his cause ,his local economy and also the rule of law recognised throughout the union .a king never abandons his castle ,he is a fraud .
He went for ‘safety purposes and freedom’. He would say that, wouldn’t he.
have your say