The chair of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE-NGL) group, Gabriele Zimmer, has argued this Tuesday in the European Parliament that the Catalan issue has to be solved by dialogue and EU mediation. She also attacked Spain for its attitude against independence supporters, a position she described as an "error". "Rajoy and his partners think that Spain is their property," she said.
In a press conference, in response to a question from El Nacional, Zimmer also reacted to the situation of president Carles Puigdemont in her own country, Germany. The politician reminded that the judge in charge of the case hasn't seen evidence of violence, necessary for the most serious charge the president is facing, that of rebellion. "It hasn't been possible to demonstrate" violence, she said, before commenting that the question of misuse of public funds remains open. "If it's not confirmed [that there was misuse of public funds], everything collapses", she said, referring to the possibility of the German judge refusing the extradition request.
Zimmer called for dialogue between the Spanish and Catalan governments and suggested that the EU should mediate. She also criticised the European institutions for siding with the Spanish government during the conflict.
The comments by Zimmer, member of Die Linke, come after Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that the Spanish courts haven't yet managed to provide clear evidence to their German counterparts over the accusation of misuse of public funds against Carles Puigdemont.