German news magazine Der Spiegel has published a column this morning by Jakob Augstein which defends the Catalan independence movement to the German public. Augstein is a German journalist whose, non-biological, father was Rudolf Augstein, one of the founders of Der Spiegel. Augstein defends the Europe of "nations", in contrast to "nation states", which he sees as an obstacle for European democracy: "we don't need [nation states] any more".
According to Augstein, the issue of Catalonia receives bad press in Germany because "the Germans don't like disorder". He says, however, that they should know that "not everything that's law is also justice". He quotes the political scientist Ulrike Guérot who wrote that the nation state is the "main obstacle on the way to a democratic Europe".
He also explains that, contrary to the theories of the sociologist Ralf Dahrendorf, the Catalan independence movement isn't exclusionary, rather that they "let their national flag wave at 'Refugees Welcome' demonstrations". He also says that Catalans don't show the "unpleasant face" of nationalism, rather than in Barcelona "a happy, modern, pluralistic patriotism that wants to find its homeland in the heart of Europe is celebrated".