Ségolène Royal, former French Environment minister and Socialist Party candidate for the 2007 presidential election, has criticised (link in French) the persecution the Catalan government is undergoing: "Everyone can see incongruity there is in seeing in the heart of Europe political figures imprisoned for having led an ideological fight."
Translation: We're witnessing the incarceration of a political leader who is defending an ideology.
According to Royal, this situation reveals "a dysfunction of Europe. The European institutions, the Commission and the Parliament, should act as mediation hubs". Although she doesn't support Catalan independence, believing it "would lead to other claims at a European level", she believes it's "not acceptable to put people in prison".
Finally, she indicated that compromise solutions might be found: "We don't resolve so complex a problem simply with a yes or a no."