2018/09/26

Catalan President Puigdemont offers dialogue but says that unilaterality is legitimate if dialogue is not possible





The Catalan President in Exile, Carles Puigdemont, thinks that international mediation in the conflict between Catalonia and Spain might be the way out of the political crisis affecting both territories.  And in a book released today, Puigdemont suggests that the European Council president, Donald Tusk, should be the person to lead this mediation, which should be "discreet" and not "public. He is the only one who has spoken of it in a correct manner," he claims. Tusk reportedly spoke to Puigdemont on October 10, 2017, right before the moment when the then Catalan president was expected to declare independence, which in the end was delayed.

In the book, 'The Catalan Crisis, an Opportunity for Europe,' which is a result of conversations between Puigdemont and the Belgian journalist, Olivier Mouton, the pro-independence politician also regrets the European Union's "official silence" in reaction to Spanish police violence on the day of the unilateral referendum on October 1 last year.

Puigdemont also offers dialogue and proposes a referendum on Catalonia's independence in Catalonia, or even in the whole of Spain, as a solution to the issue. "We should not be the ones who propose another roadmap. We have done it several times, we have made several proposals respecting the constitutional path, but Madrid has rejected them all. Now it is time for Spain to be creative; otherwise we will continue fighting for an independence that is recognized by international law through the ruling of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo."

"Unilaterality is legitimate. We have exercised it. We have organized a referendum and the results are valid. But if there is the possibility to solve the solution through dialogue I prefer. This demands time," he said.

The Catalan democratic President also makes more personal reflections in the book. "I am ready to live incarcerated in Spain, if necessary," he says, although for him that would make it more difficult to find a solution.

"Sometimes I say that my life is in danger, and I do not say that just for the sake of it. We are facing a state that will not stop at anything to ensure the unity of the nation," he says. "Believe me: I am not exaggerating at all. If they stuck a tracker in my car, one day they could do the same with an explosive. When the situation is normalized I do not want to continue in politics," he also reveals.

Catalan edition:   La crisi catalana. Una oportunitat per a Europa (La Campana) 
French edition: La crise catalane: Une opportunité pour l'Europe - Conversations avec Olivier Mouton
Dutch language: De Catalaanse crisis: Een kans voor Europa - Gesprekken met Olivier Mouton
English edition TBA announced soon

Spanish edition non available: All the Spanish print houses have denied to publish the book.

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