Josep Borrell's dislike of the exiled Catalan president Carles Puigdemont is so intense that it raises its ugly head in the most inappropriate of moments. Today, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy took advantage of a press conference on the war between Ukraine and Russia to fire a cheap shot at MEP and pro-independence leader Puigdemont. Addressing journalists, he praised the figure of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and could not let the moment pass without making a disdainful reference to Puigdemont. "Thank God Zelensky is not one of those leaders who escapes hidden in a car," he said. "He will stay there resisting, and we have to support him," he continued.
Thus, in a situation as critical as the current one in Ukraine, Borrell chose to fire yet another dart at Puigdemont. The European foreign policy chief has frequently taken aim at the Catalan independence movement and its leaders; indeed, his return to the front line of politics after a decade of absence in 2017 was in the context of the rise of the Catalan independence movement which he bitterly opposed, even to the point of making a joke about the need to "disinfect" Catalan society of its pro-independence sentiment.
One of those who responded to this latest comment was the head of president Puigdemont's office, Josep Lluís Alay: "The tragic situation in Europe today is largely explained by inept people like Borrell." Junts party vice-president Elsa Artadi called for a "review" of Borrell's role, once the current crisis due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has passed. "The priority now is to resolve the conflict and the crisis, and when that happens we will have to review his role as the EU's top foreign policy representative because it's too big for him, and he has not been up to the task," she said. She was also critical of his "frivolity and lack of leadership" in his statements and messages on Twitter.
Other Twitter users in Catalonia pointed out that the logic of Borrell's commentary means he is suggesting that the non-violent Catalan independence movement should have embarked on "resistance" to the Spanish authorities in October 2017:
Totally bizarre. “Thank God Zelenski is not the kind of leader who escapes hidden in the car. He will stay there resisting.” Borrell, the secret independentist, saying Puigdemont should have resisted in Catalonia on Oct 1? https://t.co/E7qbaJN8ow
— Liz Castro (@lizcastro) February 28, 2022
Frivolous tweet deleted
It is not Borrell's first serious mistake since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Last week, the former Spanish foreign minister published a series of tweets explaining the sanctions that the EU had agreed against the 351 Duma deputies who voted in favour of the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as independent republics, and against 27 people and organizations that are financing or providing coverage to the Russian military offensive.
Borrell got carried away with his enthusiasm, warning the oligarchs in tweets that there would be "no more shopping in Milan, parties in Saint Tropez, diamonds in Antwerp", and that this "was only a first step". The outrage caused by Borrell's lack of subtlety, coming from the man who is Europe's most senior diplomat at a time of extreme gravity, forced him to remove the tweet. There was even a tweet from the Russian foreign ministry ironically noting that "for the first time we see a Euro-bureaucrat celebrating the damage caused by Brussels to companies in EU member states".