In a crammed press conference in Strasbourg after taking their seats in the European Parliament for the first time, Catalan politicians Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín expressed their discontent at the decision by the chamber's president, David Sassoli, to declare vacant Oriol Junqueras's seat. They said they will continue fighting for him to be recognised as an MEP.
Asked about the request from a Spanish judge for the Parliament to lift his immunity, Puigdemont called for new Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez to show "consistency between what is said and what is done" with his commitment during the negotiations for his investiture to bringing the Catalan conflict back into the world of politics from the courts. "He should do in all areas where PSOE has responsibilities the same thing he's said in the Parliament. If he says he wants to 'dejudicialise' politics he'll have a marvellous occasion to put it into practice," he said.
Junqueras
As soon as he took to the microphone, Puigdemont said they were proud to be in the European Parliament, but not happy given the absence of Junqueras. "We will continue fighting until Junqueras is recognised as an MEP," he said.
Fellow MEP Diana Riba criticised Sassoli's decision to declare Junqueras's seat vacant, describing it as a direct attack on the chamber's sovereignty: "[He] admitted that Junqueras was an MEP until 3rd January and suddenly they've decided he was no longer one, without submitting the decision to the chamber."
She announced a number of political and legal appeals against the ruling, for example taking it to the Parliament's Commission for Legal Affairs and to the General Court of the EU. At the same time, they will appeal it to both Spain's Supreme and Constitutional Courts. "We weren't expecting Sassoli to make this announcement," she admitted.
For his part, Toni Comín said the case shows the rule of law isn't working in European politics and that the Spanish court "should never have handed down its sentences" whilst the preliminary question was still with the Court of Justice of the EU. "Europe's soul is at stake too, depending on how it manages the Catalan conflict," he warned.
During the press conference, Puigdemont said he plans to make use of all his prerogatives as an MEP. He announced Belgium will remain his main residence, but that he will continue fighting for Spain to recognise him immunity too: "We will fight to be able to also undertake actions in Spanish territory."