The countries of the European Union are resisting making a decision on the Spanish request to make the use of Catalan, Basque and Galician official in the European Union until a legal opinion from the Council of the EU on the consequences of the measurement and an analysis of its economic and practical impact on the operation of the block.
In the midst of this debate, some representatives of the Union countries have expressed their opinion on the matter. This is the case of the Finnish Minister of European Affairs, Anders Adlercreutz, who assured this Tuesday in Catalan that “it is too soon” for the official status of this language, Galician and Basque, to be approved today, as requested by the Spanish Government.
“I am a great friend of the languages ??of Spain,” he began by saying in Spanish. Next, he switched to Catalan and said he was “a great friend of Catalan culture.” “Together we have to defend the linguistic diversity of the EU, but we also have to know the consequences of our decisions,” Adlercreutz said in statements to the press.
Without waiting for questions from the press, the minister took advantage of his arrival to present the position of Finland, one of the few countries that had already publicly expressed their doubts on the issue, with a brief mention in Spanish and a few sentences in Catalan. , in an intervention that seemed rehearsed.
Last week, Finland was, along with Sweden, one of the two EU countries that publicly expressed its legal, practical and financial doubts about the Spanish request. Which is why Pep Guardiola, Manchester City coach, participated in the Platform for Language campaign and recorded a video addressed to the Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, where he urged him to approve the official status of Catalan in the EU.
The Swedish Minister of European Affairs, Jessika Roswall, for her part, has indicated to journalists that Sweden’s doubts have to do fundamentally with the consequences of the modification of the regulation because “there are many minority languages ??within the EU that are not languages.” officials” and want to be clear about what the “legal and financial consequences” will be before making any decision.
The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, defended the measure today because Catalan, Basque and Galician are not “minority” languages, but are spoken by “millions of people.” Specifically, he has pointed out that Catalan is spoken by more than 10 million people, more than other official EU languages.
