Carles Puigdemont:‘You’re facing the END of Europe' Catalan leader

CATALAN leader Carles Puigdemont today warned EU leaders they are facing the “end of the idea of Europe” if they fail to take action over Spain’s “violent and oppressive” response to its independence referendum. The ousted regional president told a packed press conference in Brussels that Madrid had violated “the very basis of the values on which Europe is founded” and that EU inaction would come “at a very high cost”. Mr Puigdemont, who has fled Spain to avoid charges of rebellion which carry a 30 year jail term, said he would not seek asylum in Belgium but also refused to rule out a long stay in Northern Europe.

However, he was immediately mocked for taking flight by Spanish MPs and senior European politicians including Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who said he had “left Catalonia in chaos and devastation”. At a press conference in central Brussels attended by several hundred journalists, Mr Puigdemont and seven of his senior ministers railed against the actions of the Madrid Government and called on the EU to act. He said: “To the international community and especially to Europe, I ask them to react. The Catalan issue is at the very basis of the values on which Europe is founded - democracy, freedom, freedom of expression, hospitality, non-violence. “Allowing the Spanish Government to refuse dialogue, tolerating the violence exercised by far-right groups, the imposition by ,military means and our imprisonment for 30 years, is to end with the idea of Europe.”

Mr Puigdemont, who repeated his call for a reaction to emphasise the point, bluntly warned European leaders that if they stand by saying: “It is is a mistake that we can all pay at a very high cost as European citizens. "We are in front of a state that only understands the reason of force and that has decided to use the violence and repression so that we abandon our political project. They will not succeed." Asked how long he planned to stay in the Belgian capital, he refused to give a definite response only saying it would “depend on circumstances” and the “reaction of the Spanish state.”

Two of his most senior ministers, sitting next to him, insisted they could not receive a fair trial in Spain and said they had done nothing wrong to warrant the “severe injustice” against them. Mr Puigdemont, members of his Government and senior civil servants are facing charges of rebellion after the Catalan parliament voted to officially declare independence from Spain on Friday. European leaders have repeatedly stuck to the mantra that the Catalan issue is an internal one for Spain whilst offering open support to the Madrid Government - a position Mr Puigdemont's appearance is unlikely to shift.