European liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt has been accused of double standards after speaking out against democratic abuses in Poland, but maintaining "a disappointing silence" on Spain's approach to Catalonia. Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and currently leader of the liberal grouping in the European Parliament, published a tweet on Monday defending "real democracy", in which "the rights of the minority are protected against the dictate of the majority", as a direct criticism of the controversial judicial reform approved by the government of Poland. However, his comments provoked a twitter storm due to the rejection that the politician has often shown for the Catalan sovereignty process and his support for the anti-independence Citizens party.
Among the many voices who have spoken out against Verhofstadt's apparent double standard, Scottish member of the British parliament Joanna Cherry said she was "puzzled" by his failure to apply the same criteria to Spain over the issue of Catalonia:
Martí Anglada, journalist and representative of the Catalan government in France and Switzerland, also urged the European liberal leader to "apply the same reasoning to the question of what a real democracy should be like in Spain/Catalonia". Anglada added: "Be consistent!"
Many other social media users also added their own criticisms and accused Verhofstadt of "hypocrisy", reminding him of his previous statements and positionings on Catalonia: