The Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, has today criticised from Denmark the refusal of the Spanish government to consider a proposal agreed within the framework of the independence movement in Catalonia, which places the Catalans before a choice between the status quo and independence. "There are no more alternatives because the Spanish government has firmly refused to offer any other," he said.
For this reason, he assures that the Catalan public will be called to a referendum on 1st October about the political future of the autonomous community where they will be able to choose between two options: "to accept the status quo", which he described as an "autonomy free of content", or to declare independence within the framework of a Europe of shared sovereignties.
The head of the Catalan government gave this warning in Copenhagen during the event to inaugurate the Catalan Delegation in the Nordic Countries, one of the latest that the Catalan government has started to strengthen bilateral relations with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Attendees
Taking part in the event were the Catalan Foreign Affairs minister, Raül Romeva, the secretary of Foreign Affairs, Maria Badia, and the representative of the Catalan Government to the Nordic Countries, Francesca Guardiola. Also present were the person in charge of business from the Spanish embassy in Denmark, Danish and Swedish deputies, a representative of the Danish department of Foreign Affairs, and members of the diplomatic corps of Nordic and Baltic countries.
The president highlighted the democratic tradition in Denmark and all the Nordic countries and their culture of dialogue and agreements, "without omitting the particularities and nuances of each case". He attributed the interest "that these countries have demonstrated in the current Catalan political process and especially for what it has in terms of peacefulness and democracy" to this tradition and wanted to thank them for the debate held on the subject by parliamentarians and politicians in these countries.
Puigdemont opened his speech by giving thanks for the shows of support after the recent terror attacks. He gave the response from the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) as proof of how the Catalan government is ready to assume its responsibilities, and he highlighted that "democracy and its intrinsic values, freedom and equality, are above terrorist violence".
He reviewed the relationships between Catalonia and the Nordic countries, the economic links and the presence of a community of 3,648 registered Catalan citizens.