UK newspaper The Daily Express has described the EU as "hypocrites" for having defended Iranian protests when it had supported the Spain's opposition to the 1st October Catalan independence referendum. The newspaper sees a double standard on the part of the European institutions.
"The EU have supported protesters in Iran for exercising their 'fundamental right' to 'freedom of expression', despite condemning Catalan campaigners in Spain just months ago," they write.
According to The Daily Express, although Brussels has supported the Iranian people protesting against "President Hassan Rouhani’s corrupt regime, the elite club failed to support citizens from one of their own member states when campaigning for reform in October". They note that the Spanish government sent police to "disrupt the ballot" and that Human Rights Watch found them to have "used 'excessive force' against 'peaceful protesters'".
The newspaper says that, instead of supporting the Catalan referendum, "the EU released a statement at the time supporting the view of the Spanish state", and that the European Commission only criticised the police's methods.
