Exile has led the Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to undertake all movements with great discretion. The pro-independence politician has always been pursued by the Spanish state and his response has been to shield himself almost hermetically. Thus, it seemed unlikely to be a coincidence when reports emerged of his conversation with the president of the European People's Party (EPP), Manfred Weber, on Tuesday evening at the Politico magazine gala, during which he warned that Together for Catalonia (Junts) could propose an accord with the PP to overthrow the government of Pedro Sánchez through a no-confidence motion if the Socialists (PSOE) do not respect their commitments. The wake-up call to the PSOE was particularly explicit, considering that it occurred right at the moment when the resumption of negotiations agreed between Junts and the PSOE with the team of mediators has been announced.
Puigdemont's conversation with Weber appears in almost-transcribed form in the report that Politico magazine wrote of the ceremony that proclaimed the most influential Europeans of the year - among them, the two MEPs who had the conversation. In fact, the journalist even asked the Catalan politician for clarification of his words and he confirmed that "if there is not enough progress" with the PSOE in the negotiations for the recognition of Catalonia as a nation, Junts could vote with the PP to derail the Spanish government budget or in favour of a resolution on Israel, an issue on which his party is more aligned with the Spanish conservatives than with the left.
Response from the PSOE
Puigdemont's words quickly reached their recipients. In fact, the reactions to the conversation even stole the limelight from Felipe VI who this Wednesday pronounced the official opening to the legislature, at which he urged Sánchez to guarantee the "unity" of Spain.
Meanwhile, as the PP's Alberto Núñez Feijóo tried to distance himself by assuring that he could not accept the conditions imposed by Junts on a referendum "because they are illegal", the Socialist Patxi López came out to cut off any kind of confusion by ensuring that the PSOE "always keep its agreements." "We have a majority, the one that formed this government, and we will fulfill the accords we signed to create this government," he stated.
With the Politico conversation, the Catalan president in exile prepared the ground for the negotiations between the PSOE and Junts with the presence of mediators, which have already started and will have a new session on Saturday. On behalf of the pro-independence party, Puigdemont himself, the general secretary of Junts, Jordi Turull, and the president of the parliamentary group, Míriam Nogueras, will take part in the talks. On behalf of the PSOE, the delegation will be headed by former Spanish PM José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero and the PSOE's organizational secretary, Santos Cerdán.
The mediators
The investiture agreement signed by the two parties specifies that "given the deep discrepancies on the final form of the resolution of the conflict, in addition to the mutual mistrust recognized by both, the PSOE and Junts have agreed to provide a mechanism between the two organizations, international, which has the functions of accompanying, verifying and monitoring the entire negotiation process and the agreements reached". Saturday's will not be the first meeting held by the two parties. However, sources close to the talks point out that it could be the meeting at which the rules of the negotiation are made public.
As the president of the party, Laura Borràs, explained in an interview with ElNacional.cat, different mediators will take part in the meetings. Borràs spoke of four, but specified that there will be one who will act as coordinator and spokesperson, and this person will be the only one whose identity will be known. The investigation of the Democratic Tsunami case, under the gavel of the National Audience judge Manuel García-Castellón, has revealed contacts between Junts and the Henry Dunant Foundation of Switzerland, specialized in the resolution of conflicts. Sources of the investigation carried out by the Civil Guard for the National Audience have been responsible for pointing to this foundation, which already took part in the negotiation for the end of ETA, as one of the actors that will participate in the talks between PSOE and Junts.