Some fifty members of the European Parliament from six political groups in Brussels and from 19 member states have called for Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, to "stop its repressive actions [against Catalonia] immediately" and to engage in "a political dialogue". In an open letter, the MEPs say that the self-determination referendum is a "political legitimate claim of Catalan society".
According to the MEPs, the Catalan situation has reached a "critical point" and the Spanish government's strategy is "not only a violation of basic fundamental rights but a wrong approach to handle a political question". "We demand you to [sic] backtrack immediately", they say, warning that the Spanish state is making an "abuse and misuse of power".
MEPs from Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, Latvia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Sweden, Romania, Italy, Portugal, Finland, France, Hungary and Spain, warn that "these breaches of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly are not acceptable in the European Union democratic standards [sic]" and they believe it to be their "duty" as members of the European Parliament to "condemn these disproportionate reactions from the Spanish authorities".
"We call the Spanish government to stop its repressive actions immediately, stop violating civil rights and play a constructive role and engage, immediately, in a political dialogue with the Catalan authorities", write the MEPs, who include representatives of all the European political groups except the European People's Party group and the Europe of Nations and Freedom group.
"Politicians, not judges or police forces, should primarily deal with political disagreements in any European democratic country," they say. "The debates in the Catalan parliament to call a referendum on independence that has wide support from the Catalan population cannot lead to a court case being brought by the Spanish government."