Following the first public appearance of released Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in Berlin, the city which is his new provisional residence, two major conclusions can be drawn: in the first place, that he is willing to take full advantage of the fact that a country with the political importance of Germany is to make the decision on his extradition, now hinging solely on the accusation of misuse of public funds, since the other charge presented by Spanish justice, that of rebellion, has been rejected by the German judges. And secondly, that his repeated commitment to negotiation with the Spanish authorities without pre-established conditions will be the cornerstone of his public defence, as a contrast to an intolerant and repressive state, unable to sit down at a table to talk and reach agreements.
Puigdemont has won a first (judicial) battle, not the war. But that is very significant. It is enough to get the Catalan political ship moving again without any resistance, the vessel having been grounded since the elections of December 21 through the refusal of the anti-independence "155 block" to accept the result of the polls and also, albeit to a lesser extent, due to partisan discrepancies within the pro-independence sphere. Puigdemont's presentation in Berlin, with overwhelming international media interest - a fact which is no longer surprising - was enormously intelligent and conciliatory. The international media confirm that, no matter how much the general propaganda headquarters in Madrid line up their spokespeople to say the opposite. The German justice minister Katarina Barley has already reduced the field of play for extradition by stating that Spain will have to explain now why this accusation has been made, "and that will not be easy". Hours later, the weekly Der Spiegel, the most influential magazine in Germany, threw a second bucket of cold water over the issue by pointing out that the accusation made by judge Pablo Llarena is weak and that the European arrest warrant presented "does not contain even a word" on the specific involvement of the Catalan president in the alleged deeds.
Thus, his public presentation was indeed very intelligent. He knows that the game is being played 1,900 kilometres away from Barcelona - but much further away from Madrid. And that in the Bundeskanzleramt, the enormous, 130,000 square-foot headquarters of the German chancellery, Angela Merkel is perhaps not experiencing the situation as the hot potato that people in Catalonia might like to understand it, but is nevertheless kept permanently informed in the top-floor official residence occupied by the most powerful woman in the world. The Catalan president feels confident and clear on what he has to do. Optimistic and, strangely enough, relaxed. In a good mood. Now it is a question of giving the right messages, since the other work, related to the resolution of the judicial case, is in the hands of a team of lawyers of indisputable prestige.
There is only one clear aim: to reduce tensions and lead the call for dialogue, and Puigdemont is already at work on that objective. No one should misinterpret this: it is dialogue, not repudiations nor renditions. In the face of intolerance, dialogue. In the face of the unjust detention of members of his government, the demand for immediate freedom. The capacity that the Catalan president has shown to make the most of a tiny manoeuvring space does not cease to amaze. He needed no more than this to strip the Spanish state bare. His resilience is also impressive. And his vocation for the challenge, which he has adapted to in the permanent obstacle course which his political biography has become. And which makes him, perhaps, the only one capable of turning an apparent defeat - which many believed his arrest in Germany represented - into the great opportunity for the Catalan independence movement.