The vice-president of the European Parliament, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, denounced this afternoon the arrest of members of the Catalan government by Spanish authorities. The Civil Guard has this morning arrested thirteen high-ranking officials in an operation which unfolded across several government offices to collect evidence relating to the 1st October referendum.
Papadimoulis said, in a tweet in Catalan, that this act was "a very worrying path" and calls for "dialogue, not offensive acts". In a subsequent tweet, in English, he repeated this second message.
La detenció de membres del govern #Catalunya per part d'autoritats espanyoles és deriva molt preocupant. Cal diàleg, no accions ofensives.
— Dim. Papadimoulis (@papadimoulis) 20 septembre 2017
Dialogue is needed, not offensive actions by the Spanish authorities against Catalan govt officials.#MovilizacionCatalunyaESP pic.twitter.com/yzYMoyO7ee
— Dim. Papadimoulis (@papadimoulis) 20 septembre 2017