The Spanish foreign affairs minister, Josep Borrell, has explained that he didn't invite Catalan president Quim Torra to the latest Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) forum in Barcelona today, to not "give him an appropriate stage to continue vilifying the good name of Spain".
In the press conference for the third regional forum of the UfM, Borrell explained the reasons for not inviting Torra to the meeting in Barcelona, involving representatives of the 43 countries which are part of the organisation. "The foreign affairs ministry decided to not invite him to not give him an appropriate stage to continue vilifying the good name of Spain and to not distort this meeting and turn it into something different from what it has to be".
According to the minister, Torra "has to know that he cannot declare that the Spanish state is his enemy, he cannot blackmail the prime minister saying that if he doesn't accept a referendum on self-determination he won't pass something, he cannot turn himself into the leader of the agitators in the streets". "If he does all of that, he cannot expect to be invited to a formal event, for reasons of mere protocol, at which his presence isn't essential".
Borrell also noted that the Spanish government doesn't organise the forum. He went on to say that "the Catalan government itself woke up on Saturday", that "until then it seemed to not have realised that this meeting existed".
He indicated that the first such regional UfM forum held in Barcelona didn't see the then-president invited either. Last year, on the other hand, Carles Puigdemont was invited.