HC: A big mistake Europe must correct

In today’s society, with the atrocities of the 20th Century firmly in our rearview mirror, we take many things for granted. We remain painfully aware of the flagrant violations of human rights in Africa, Asia and Latin America, but we seem to have built a mental wall of silence around the issue of democracy and rights in the western world. For the most part we still believe the European Union to be a haven for individual and collective rights, despite some episodes that have shaken said beliefs momentarily. The widespread visualization of abuse by police forces against demonstrators in many European countries has given doubters a powerful, tangible imagery to make their point. Perhaps the European Union isn’t as mindful of civil liberties and human rights as we’ve made it out to be, but this isn’t a new development. In fact, since granting Spain’s entry as a member of the Union, the institution’s claims of democratic enhancement have rung hollow.

As the world has come to find out, it turns out that Spain’s so-called “Transition” towards democracy never did take place. Not only was the theoretically democratic Head of State, King Juan Carlos, appointed by dictator Francisco Franco, but the dictatorship’s crimes were swept under the rug. It would be unthinkable for a high-ranking member of the Nazi regime (say, Goebbels) to not only come out of the Hitler regime unscathed, let alone be allowed to remain involved in politics. This, however, took place in Spain. Manuel Fraga, Franco’s propaganda Minister, founded the Popular Party to which current prime minister Mariano Rajoy belongs. In a perfect depiction of how profoundly hypocritical Spain’s apparent devotion to democracy is, the Spanish government had no problem sending a sample of its Constitution, complete with Franco’s dictatorial shield to represent the country in the European Parliament’s exhibit.

Clearly, the European Union was wrong to allow a country unapologetic for its dictatorial past to take a seat at the purported holy grounds of democracy. Today, however, History affords the EU a chance to redeem itself. I won’t sit here and ask for Spain to be expelled from the Union, given that said expulsion would have a profound negative impact on the livelihood of millions of citizens who have done no wrong. I won’t ask for Alejo Vidal-Quadras, the VP of the European Parliament, to be removed from his seat for calling for a military intervention of Catalonia. After all, Spain’s deeply flawed democracy granted him the right to be a member of the Chamber. I won’t even ask the EU to come out and publicly dismantle Spain’s fraudulent arguments regarding Catalonia’s EU membership once my nation achieves its independence, for I am aware that European diplomacy is soft and cowardly in its very nature. All I ask of the European Union is that it explicitly states that it will make sure the inevitable referendum for Catalonia’s independence is fair and fully democratic. We cannot expect Spain to play by the rules, especially when predictions point towards its defeat.

Many think it is the European Union’s job to protect Catalonia, but the Catalan people have learned through 298 years that we have only ourselves to protect our nation. What we ask, simply, is the the EU protect the democratic principles it champions.