The president of Catalonia, Quim Torra, has urged the European Union to establish a mechanism "that could allow the admission of new independent states born via democratic means" within the Union.
He made this call in a joint appearance with the president of Flanders, Jan Jambon, with whom he met this Saturday at the Palau de la Generalitat, the Catalan government palace in Barcelona. After the meeting, both leaders went out onto the Palau's Orange Tree Courtyard to hear the Flemish national anthem being played on the carillon, high above them in the bell tower.
Torra defended the right of peaceful self-determination as the "basis for a political solution in Catalonia", demanded a referendum like that of Scotland and asserted that he has confidence in Belgian justice, with regard to the cases of president Carles Puigdemont and the other exiled Catalan politicians in Belgium.