Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez plans to meet key Catalan separatist leaders Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras ‘several times’ to ‘normalise relations’ with Catalonia’s pro-independence forces, despite previously and publicly denying such a meeting.
Both Puigdemont, the former Catalonia president and now leader of right-wing separatist JxCat, and Junqueras, the leader of the left-wing ERC party, are key for Sanchez’s coalition to govern.
However, the news received considerable backlash from Spain’s main opposition force in the Spanish parliament, Partido Popular (PP, EPP), Euractiv’s partner EFE reported.
“I find it (the planned meetings) regrettable. It’s quite reflective of the president of the government we have,” stressed Miguel Tellado, a PP spokesman in parliament.
The meeting with a “fugitive from justice” (Puigdemont) is “a new humiliation and a sign of the degeneration to which Sánchez, a puppet of Catalan separatism, is currently leading Spain”, PP Secretary General Cuca Gamarra added.
Speaking at an informal event in Madrid on the occasion of the upcoming Christmas holidays, Sanchez assured that the outcome of future meetings with Puigdemont and Junqueras would be communicated transparently and that there would be no attempt to hide anything, as the PP and the far-right party Vox, the third force in the chamber, have warned.
Although Sánchez did not give specific dates or say where the future meeting would be held, sources close to his PSOE and JxCat assured that it would be in an EU country other than Spain. This comes days after he refuted rumours of a meeting, stating it would not take place.
However, Sánchez did confirm that he plans to hold “many” meetings with Puigdemont, who has been on the run from Spanish justice since 2017 for his direct involvement in the secessionist attempt in Catalonia, El Periódico de Catalunya reported.
The prime minister clarified that the meeting would take place after the Spanish parliament approved the controversial amnesty law for those involved in the 2017 secession attempt in this Spanish region, which will benefit Puigdemont, among others.
Sánchez stressed that to be consistent with his vision of including the separatist parties JxCat and ERC in the political life of the chamber. Having given the green light to the amnesty law, it was “logical” that he would meet with Puigdemont and Junqueras, who, along with other Catalan separatist leaders, was pardoned by the prime minister in June 2021 with the aim of normalising relations between Madrid and Catalonia.
So far, the only confirmed meeting with prominent Catalan separatist leaders is scheduled for Thursday with Catalonian President Pere Aragonés, who, like JxCat, has made it clear on several occasions that the ultimate goal of the separatist movement is to hold a referendum on self-determination for the region, despite it being forbidden under the Spanish constitution.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)
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