Catalan president in exile Carles Puigdemont has this Monday criticised the leaders of the European Union for their "silence" over the violence from Spanish police against Catalan voters in the 2017 referendum: "What pains me the most about the EU authorities is their silence in the face of the violent agression from a member state, Spain, deployed against Catalan voters". The president was speaking in Hamburg in an event organised by German party Die Linke.
"We are European citizens and we've got the right to freedom of expression," he repeated. Puigdemont also said that "in the 21st century, the classic [model of the] nation state is out of date and absurd" and that "in this context, minorities have to be protected and able to exercise the right to self-determination".
Puigdemont denounced the "attempt to exclude us from the European elections" - in the end, his party won the most votes in Catalonia. "It's true that PSOE uses a different language, but its policies are the same as PP's", he said, "Sánchez's recipe is similar to Rajoy's".
"This conflict requires mediation. The two sides, we need help from an independent third party," he said. Die Linke Bundestag member Zaklin Nastic asked rhetorically why the EU cannot attend a trial as an international observer, having requested it do so to no response. "Even in Turkey it can," she said.
Per cert, la magnífica intèrpret català-alemany i alemany-català del President Puigdemont @KRLS a Hamburg és una estudiant d’Alacant. Felicitats! @dieLinke ha fet un esforç perquè la interpretació es fes en català pic.twitter.com/tZjkZa6mYi
— Josep Lluís Alay 🎗 (@josepalay) 3 de juny de 2019