Comparing Catalonia with South Ossetia and Abkhazia
On Monday, in a conference organised by the Nueva Economía Forum in
Madrid, in front of Georgia's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the
Economy, Giorgi Kvirikaixvili, José Manuel García-Margallo indirectly
compared Catalonia's case with that of South Ossetia – where there was a
war in 2008 between Georgia and Russia – and Abkhazia – which also
seceded from the Caucasian country and participated in a war with the
same contenders. García-Margallo pointed out that those territories
seceded "illegally" from Georgia, organising "illegal referendums",
going against internal and international law". Now, the international
community does not recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent
countries, with very few exceptions that include Russia. The Spanish
Foreign Affairs Minister continued his argumentation by referring to the
current case of Crimea and Ukraine.
In the question and answer time, García-Margallo was asked if the
previous statements were valid for Catalonia. The 7.5 million Catalans
are EU citizens and net contributors to the EU budget and Catalonia's
capital, Barcelona, is the 6th largest urban area in the
Union and one of the main economic engines in Southern Europe. The
Spanish Minister stated that an independent Catalonia "would not be
recognised by the EU" and therefore "its EU accession would not be
recognised neither taken into consideration".
Spanish Government: Catalonia can only be independent through a unilateral declaration
Considering Spain's Constitutional framework the only way Catalonia
could become an independent country is through a unilateral declaration
of independence, stated García-Margallo. According to the Spanish
Government's interpretation of the Constitution, the law does not
authorise the organisation of a self-determination consultation vote in
Catalonia and therefore it cannot take place. On top of this, the
Spanish Government is rejecting any reform of the Constitution and
closes the door to talks on the possibility of holding a legal vote on
Catalonia's independence.
Roaming across space for the centuries of the centuries
However, immediately after, García-Margallo added that if Catalan
authorities issued a unilateral declaration of independence, this would
"condemn Catalonia to roam across space without international
recognition and it would be excluded from the EU for the centuries of
the centuries". According to him, "this is the contrary of Catalonia's
will".
For these reasons he stated that independence is "a high risk
operation". "Secession is harmful for Spain but it is particularly
harmful for Catalonia". García-Margallo considered "it is about time to
let people know" about" the risks that an essentially European
population is being put at".
The Spanish Minister stated that the United Nations only recognise
self-determination for a territory in case of colonisation, military
occupation or human rights violation. He added that an independent
Catalonia would be "in a judicial limbo", out of the International
Monetary Fund's protection and the Bretton Woods institutions.
The European Greens support Catalonia's self-determination
On the same day in Barcelona, the main candidate of the European
Greens, Ska Keller, stated she was giving her explicit support to
Catalonia's right to self-determination. The candidate to chair the
European Commission said that "the Greens defend radical democracy and
in Catalonia there is a citizen demand in favour of a
[self-determination] referendum". "For this reason I want to make the
personal commitment that, if I am elected Commission President, I will
support Catalonia in allowing a consultation vote on its political
future and its relationship with Spain", promised the German politician.
Keller urged the Spanish Government to launch a negotiation process to
make this vote possible.
