CATALONIA -- The New York Times contradicts Rajoy, differentiates Catalonia from Crimea - VilaWeb

The New York Times contradicts Rajoy, differentiates Catalonia from Crimea - VilaWeb

'There is a difficult question here, and as secessionist-minded
people in Quebec, Scotland or Catalonia have shown, there are legitimate
ways to raise it,' said the New York Times in an editorial
in which it demands sanctions on the government of Vladimir Putin and
differentiates the case of Crimea from the Catalan, Scottish or Quebec
ones. It is a point of view in direct contrast to that of the Spanish
Government: yesterday, Mariano Rajoy brandished the situation with
Crimea to try to delegitimize the Catalan sovereignty process.

'The
real issue is the way President Vladimir Putin of Russia has thrown
down the gauntlet,' said the paper, 'sending Russian forces to seize
control of Crimea; concocting nonexistent “fascist” threats to the
Russian population; refusing to recognize the interim government in
Kiev; calling for a phony referendum in Crimea on Sunday and a vote in
Russia on March 21 whose outcomes are foreordained.'

Yesterday in the Senate session, Rajoy said that the events that have
taken place in Crimea demonstrated that the 'whole Western world'
defends the 'respect for all states' territorial integrity and national
sovereignty'. 'That is the modern way, that's what's being worn nowadays
in the world, and which serves the progress of the people.'

The paper continued, with respect to the situation in Crimea: 'Like
many Russians, Mr. Putin earnestly believes that Russia has a special
bond with Ukraine. What he and those in his administration cannot fathom
is that Ukraine can forge economic and social ties with the West and
still retain the indisputable historic and cultural kinship to Russia;
to them, it is a zero-sum game, and Mr. Putin is prepared to be tough.'