Spanish fury for Flemish diplomacy on Catalonia

Spain’s decision to break off diplomatic ties with Flanders is meeting with incredulity in our country. Minister-President Geert Bourgeois is asking the federal Minister of Foreign Affairs to remind the Spanish ambassador of the freedom of expression and the separation of powers. “This is a very severe diplomatic incident,” says Geert Bourgeois, who will also be inviting the ambassador to his office for a meeting. The diplomatic row is caused by statements on the Catalan question made by President of the Flemish Parliament Jan Peumans. In the meantime, MEP Mark Demesmaeker reminds us that the Catalan political prisoners have already been imprisoned for a year.

Unprecedented in the EU

Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois is taking the Spanish decision to rescind the diplomatic status of the Flemish Government’s representative in Madrid very seriously indeed. “To the best of my knowledge, this is unprecedented in the European Union. As far as I know, this has never happened since the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952 and even not since 1945. This is the most severe sanction, normally reserved for when a diplomat has misbehaved, when he or she has committed a felony or espionage, and so on. Of course, nothing like that applies in this case.”

Not impressed

Jan Peumans is in any case not impressed by the Spanish decision. Nor is he planning to rein himself in. “In my country I will still say what I think I have to say. We still live in a democracy,” a pugnacious Jan Peumans responds. In a letter to his former Catalan counterpart Carme Forcadell, who is also in jail, he wrote in September that “the Spanish government is not capable of fulfilling the conditions required to be part of a democratic Europe”. In the Flemish Parliament, the photographic exhibition “La revolta de les urnes” on the Catalan fight for self-determination is currently being held. Last week, it was ceremoniously opened by Jan Peumans, in the company of former President of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont, among others.

1 year of political prisoners

The Catalan political prisoners continue to cause a furore. MEP Mark Demesmaeker reminds us that on 16 October, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart will have been behind bars for a year for their involvement in the organisation of a referendum on self-determination. “Jordi and Jordi are accused of rebellion and risk a prison sentence of up to 30 years. That is nothing short of scandalous. In this regard it is shameful that there isn’t more solidarity from the European institutions with Catalan EU citizens who are unjustly imprisoned. To remind the EU’s leaders of their responsibilities and also to show the world that Jordi and Jordi are not by any means on their own, we held a short action of solidarity today,” says Mark Demesmaeker.

The Catalan question came up for debate in the Flemish Parliament on 17 October. The result of that debate was that all six groups in the Flemish Parliament stand behind the words of Jan Peumans. Indeed, already back in October 2017, all the groups approved a resolution in which the police violence during the referendum of 1 October 2017 is condemned and in which the Flemish Parliament calls for dialogue.