The higher regional court of Schleswig-Holstein has revoked the extradition warrant against Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, following Spain dropping its request. German prosecutors this morning received the official confirmation from Spanish judge Pablo Llarena that he had revoked the European Arrest Warrant against Puigdemont. The German court has since withdrawn all the bail measures it had set, including the requirements that he regularly sign in with German police and that he not leave the country.
From this afternoon, Puigdemont is free to travel around Europe like any other citizen. Free to travel, that is, apart from to Spain, where a national arrest warrant is still in force against him. Puigdemont's lawyers have also recommended he avoid France, due to that country's bilateral agreements and ties with Spain.
"Prosecutors of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein confirm that the European Arrest Warrant against former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has been withdrawn by the competent Spanish court. This removes the basis of the extradition proceedings. The higher regional court of Schleswig-Holstein is now requested to lift the extradition order against Carles Puigdemont. Once the extradition order has been lifted, the extradition process will have finished", prosecutors wrote in a press release. Hours later, the court announced that the warrant had indeed been "revoked".
Puigdemont has announced that he plans to return to Belgium at the end of next week to promote the Council of the Republic.