"I can't believe that twenty years later we should be hearing a similar rhetoric from Madrid as that of Serbian nationalism"

"I can't believe that twenty years later (after the Balkan War) we should be hearing a similar rhetoric from Madrid as that of Serbian nationalism". This is how the secretary general of Liberal International and former Foreign Minister of Macedonia, Emil Kirjas, defined the attitude that the Spanish state is adopting in the face of the Catalan self-determination process.

Kirjan stated during the presentation of the Sapiens Campaign to publicize the self-determination process of Catalonia to the world that "aggressive nationalism does not help to maintain a united state" and that the political elites of Madrid must "understand" the will of the Catalan people. The former minister of Macedonia also stressed that it has been demonstrated that Europe is "very reluctant" to promote policies in advance and therefore it always "reacts afterwards". "Don't be afraid, you will not be alone", he said to the Catalans.

The former Minister of Macedonia stressed that, from a historical and developmental point of view, the process of  dismemberment of the former Yugoslavia has nothing to do with the Catalan process. However, he said that they do look increasingly similar from the sentimental point of view as well as in terms of the deterioration of the relations between Catalonia and Spain .

Emil Kirjas, former Minister of Macedonia "Serbian nationalism used the same rhetoric as Madrid".