President of Catalonia sents a letter in support of a consultation about Catalonia independence to all European leaders

Mr. Artur Mas, President of Catalonia, has written a letter in support of a consultation about Catalonia independence on 9th November to all European leaders. In addition, the Government has prepared a memo defending the right to decide of Catalonia and Mas has sent it to twenty-seven EU prime ministers and forty-five governments in the world. The same memo was already sent earlier to the Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. This letter is copied below.

Dear Chancellor,
I wanted to let you know personally about the latest very important developments in Catalonia. On 12 December political parties representing sixty-five per cent of the Parliament of Catalonia agreed to hold a referendum on the future of Catalonia.

The referendum will ask the two-part question "Do you want Catalonia to become a State?" and if so, "Do you want the State to be independent?" The referendum will be held on 9 November 2014.

This process is the demand of the Catalan people, expressed in the mandate given at the last elections on 25 November 2012 and demonstrated repeatedly by popular action.

Contrary of some reports, there are a number of legal and constitutional options which allow this referendum to take place in Catalonia. We have identified five of those ways at least, and I have written to the government of Spain outlining them.

We seek dialogue and agreement with the government of Spain on the future of our country.

I am confident that I can rely on you to encourage the peaceful, democratic, transparent, and European process to which I and a vast majority of the Catalan people are fully committed.

Yours faithfully,
Artur Mas
Barcelona, 20 December 2013