Spanish foreign affairs minister, Josep Borrell, has instructed Spain's ambassador to Belgium, Cecilia Yuste, to ask the Belgium government to appear in the case in that country against Spanish judge Pablo Llarena and to defend the immunity of the Spanish judiciary and the judge summonsed.
Foreign ministry sources have told Europa Press that this follows a request made by the president of the Supreme Court and the General Council of the Judiciary, Carlos Lesmes.
Lesmes had written to Borrell and the justice minister, Dolores Delgado, asking them to carry out "the relevant actions to ensure the integrity of the state's actions". This follows president Carles Puigdemont and four former ministers now in exile presenting a civil lawsuit in Belgium against Pablo Llarena, the judge in the case against the Catalan independence movement.
Specifically, the judge asked them to, "in accordance with Belgian procedural practice", ask Belgium to appear in the case in its own courts in defence of "the immunity of the Spanish judiciary and the Supreme Court judge summonsed".
The Spanish government will respond to the request with a "note verbale", which is the normal method of communication for ambassadors with the governments of the countries they are accredited in.
For the moment, there is no plan for Borrell to directly discuss the subject with his Belgian counterpart, Didier Reynders. Both will be in Brussels tomorrow, however, for a two-day NATO summit.