"The political prisoners must immediately be released in Spain, and the EU must intervene if it wants to be a union of values." That was the comment from Hendrik Bogaert, member of the Belgian Chamber of Representatives from the Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (Christian Democratic and Flemish Party, CD&V), in an opinion column published in a Flemish newspaper.
The MP also defends negotiations between the Catalan and Spanish governments to achieve greater autonomy for Catalonia. "Reasonable negotiations with reciprocal concessions with a view to more autonomy for Catalonia can and must be started," he writes.
The article, however, focuses on the Flemish claim for greater autonomy from Belgium. He says that, although some Flemish parties "rightly" support the Catalan cause, "it can not distract us from our own constructive quest for more autonomy".
Previously, CD&V had avoided the Catalan process more than fellow nationalists N-VA and hadn't given support to the cause. In fact, the party forms part of the European People's Party, like Spain's governing PP, the main opponents of Catalan independence.