The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, and the Lehendakari Iñígo Urkullu, reported their good agreement at an event organized at the European Parliament in Brussels in which they supported an initiative in favor of the right to self-determination “of nations without a State” within of the European Union.
The event included appearances by both leaders and they assured that both Catalonia and the Basque Country have always shown their support for the European construction project. “They told us that it was impossible for more than 350 million Europeans to have a Parliament and here we are (…) they told us that they would never accept an amnesty, which despite the context, is moving forward and I am convinced that it will be approved within the framework of the Spanish Parliament “Aragones assured in his speech.
Likewise, Aragonès recalled that the Catalans “have always opted for democracy” and the “will to sovereignty”, and resolving a sovereignty conflict with “the Spanish State”. “We did it on October 1, 2017 and we will do it again today,” added Aragonès, who stressed that “the future will only be built with more democracy.”
“We are representatives of political spaces present in several European political families, some of us have different aspects and visions, but a common will to advance the European project,” added Aragonès, in reference to the different parliamentary groups that had organized the event, such as the European Free Alliance (which forms a group with the Greens and where ERC is), Renew Europe (the liberal group of which the PNV is a part), as well as La Izquierda (to which EH Bildu and BNG belong).
For his part, Urkullu believes that the “EU must give space, prominence and a channel of expression to the plurality of national realities that make it up, such as Euskadi, a nation without a State,” he argued. In this sense, he asked the European Union to avoid “the trend toward re-centralization,” which, in his opinion, is occurring.
For this reason, he asked for “a unique and singular status” for regions with their own language and legislative capacity. In fact, Urkullu proposed to the European Commission earlier this week the creation of a protocol to guarantee that regions with legislative powers and nationalities participate in European Union decision-making. A proposal that Aragonès has also supported.
Likewise, the Lehendakari, in what will probably be his last international act, pointed out that the report promoted by seven MEPs last September is “a good starting point for a calm debate.” This proposal calls for the creation of a legal framework that protects the rights of citizens of community territories who undertake a process of self-determination agreed with their State, and that, in this context, the European institutions mediate if there are conflicts in these processes.
At the event, where MEPs such as Diana Riba and Jordi Solé (ERC) and Ana Miranda (BNG) also participated or Clara Ponsatí and Toni Comín attended as an audience. The latter, at the end of the forum, had a brief informal chat with Aragonès, the day after the vote on the Amnesty Law and which Junts voted against in the Congress of Deputies.
Precisely, Aragonès had said hours before that “a reflection by all political parties” should be done because “the Amnesty Law is a necessary law and should not be put at risk.” “We will have to work a few more days, it is important that all parties assume our responsibility, it is a historic opportunity to end the repression,” he added.
