PP, Ciudadanos and Vox agreed this Tuesday with PSOE that Josep Borrell, nominated as the EU's next High Representative for Foreign Affairs, shouldn't have to appear in the Congress to give explanations for a report on the Catalan independence movement prepared by the government agency Global Spain to counter the narrative recounted internationally by the movement itself. They did say, however, that they find the report to be "tepid".
The Catalan parties ERC and Junts per Catalunya and Basque party EH Bildu had called for Borrell to account for the document, prepared when he was Spanish foreign secretary. It was distributed to the national and foreign press and international bodies.
The pro-independence parties believe that the report contains "defamatory claims about Catalan society" and violates the presumption of innocence of the politicians on trial in the Supreme Court.
ERC spokesperson Montse Bassa said it's "a true media campaign in favour of the guilt of the political prisoners", aiming to pressurise the Catalan government and spark fear among the Catalan public. She also warned that Borrell's "tireless use of scorn" is making the independence movement expand.
For JxCat, Laura Borràs criticised the fact that the state's "violence" responding to the 2017 referendum isn't reflected in the report and said that she finds the "attacks" against Catalans who want "political tools to solve a political problem" to be "tiresome". Borrell, in her view, "has no brake".
The move was supported by Unidas Podemos, who described the report as "shabby, hooligan, basic, absolutely biased". Deputy Aina Vidal said it denied the "police brutality" seen during the referendum and insults the intelligence of Spanish diplomacy.
The document "others didn't write"
From the other side, PSOE's José Zaragoza said that it was an error to call for such an appearance by the outgoing minister as it sparks a debate which doesn't solve the problem but just leads to both sides repeating the same arguments "time and again".
He also said the report defends Spain's interests and is a report "that others didn't write", a clear criticism of Mariano Rajoy's government which he said let "false claims circulate for a long time".
José Antonio Bermúdez de Castro (PP) said that "for once a minister gets it right" and is backed by his party, but went on to criticise the government for not being "unreservedly on the side of constitutionalism". The report, he suggested, should be sent to all PSOE's ministers and leaders to avoid "contradictions".
From Ciudadanos, Edmundo Bal said that the report is "tepid" in many sections, which he believes is because PSOE is too, accepting parliamentary support as it does from ERC, JxCat and Bildu. "The Spanish government causes me sorrow and shame," he added.
Similar comments came from Vox spokesperson Ignacio Garriga: "Dear coup plotters, the only defamatory thing here is that you should present yourselves as prescribers of the Catalan good and evil after having broken Catalonia apart and harassing those who don't think the same as you, bringing families into confrontation and using the institutions to subdue those of us who believe in Spain".