Spain's move to strip Catalonia of its self-government, with the dismissal of all members of the Catalan government and intervention in Parliament, has provoked strong reactions from everyone - not only within the Spanish state but also beyond. The brutal application of article 155 of the Spanish constitution has made front page headlines all over the world, and has also generated a series of reactions among European politicians.
Among those who used Twitter to let their views be known was Danish Green party MP Nikolaj Villumsen, who in the past has presented the Catalan case to the Danish Parliament. "This is not democracy", said the Dane. "Europe should condemn the repression".
Instead of dialogue the Spanish Government choose to dissolve the catalan Parliament. Thats not democracy. Europe should condemn repression.
— Nikolaj Villumsen (@nvillumsen) 21 of October 2017
Meanwhile, another Danish politician, Magni Argi, representative for the Faroe Islands, shared the institutional declaration made by the speaker of Catalan Parliament, Carme Forcadell, denouncing that the application of article 155 was a "de facto coup d'état" against a parliament elected at the ballot box. His tweet asked an ominous question about the future of Europe:
Is this the new definition of "rule of law" in Europe? #Catalonia https://t.co/p0syUJdL20
— Magni Arge (@MagniArge) 21 of October 2017
Former speaker of the Scottish Parliament, Tricia Marwick, also reacted to Madrid's move. She shared a fragment of the speech by Carles Puigdemont: "Democratically deciding the future of a nation is not a crime. This goes against the foundations that unite European citizens". Marwick herself added a quote from historical Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell:
“ No man has the right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation. No man has the right to say thus far shalt you go and no further.” https://t.co/V22wgcyihn
— Tricia Marwick (@TriciaMarwick) 21 of October 2017
Scottish nationalist representative David McDonald focused on the measures announced by Mariano Rajoy, questioning how it is that a constitution can make it possible for some politicians to get rid of others.
When a constitution gives some politicians the right to dismiss other politicans/legislatures it's not worth the paper it's written on. https://t.co/NE5cK0hhSk
— David McDonald (@SNPdavid) 21 of October 2017
In France, the former presidential candidate for the Socialist party, Benoît Hamon, observed: "Whatever you think of the future of Catalonia, I believe that a democratic flame is not to be extinguished by constitutional bullying".
Quoi que l'on pense du futur de la #Catalogne, je crois que l'on n'éteint pas une flamme démocratique par un coup de menton constitutionnel — Benoît Hamon (@benoithamon) 21 of October 2017