“Pugdemont? In the service of Moscow”. The Catalan independence leader at the center of an EU investigation into Russian interference. The reply: “Delirious accusations”
The European Parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a non-binding resolution expressing its opinion “utter outrage and deep concern” over Russia's continued efforts to undermine democracy through various forms of interference and disinformation and urges “the competent judicial authorities” to “effectively” investigate Russian interference with the aim of destabilizing some regions of the European Union. In particular, MEPs – including those from the Spanish Socialist Party – they ask to investigate the Kremlin's alleged links with the Catalan independence movement which led the separatist process which resulted in the unilateral referendum and illegal in 2017 and in the subsequent repression by the central government of Madrid.
The resolution specifically provides for a report on the conduct of the MEP and former governor of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont and his colleagues to check whether they have violated any clause of the European Parliament's Code of Conduct. The commission responsible for carrying out this evaluation is made up of eight members from different parties, including the Italian Giuliano Pisapia. According to the newspaper El Mundo, “the two Belgian members are supporters of Puigdemont and his cause.” Puigdemontexiled leader of the Junts per Catalunya party, said in an interview by feeling haunted by “delusional accusations” by the Spanish state and in a post on “If we had allowed the investiture of Alberto Nunez Feijóo as president of the government, instead of Pedro Sánchez, all this would not have happened.”
In a letter sent to MEPs, he adds that “the light-heartedness with which the entire Russian question has been treated is appalling” and accuses the European Parliament of “acting as a sounding board for the partisan strategies of the national delegations… The Spanish PP has succeeded to impose its standards on the European conservative majority and this is disastrous news for the future of the Union”, concludes the leader of Junts.
According to MEPs, Russia provided significant funding, including through bank loans, to parties, politicians, officials and movements in several countries to interfere and gain influence in their democratic processes. “Russian interference in Catalonia would form part of a broader Russian strategy aimed at promoting internal destabilization and disunity in the EU”, states the text of the resolution, which expresses concern “about the large-scale disinformation campaigns that Russia has conducted in Catalonia, as well as for the alleged intense contacts and numerous meetings between the agents responsible for the Russian interference with representatives of the independence movement and the regional government of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia”. Obviously, the main suspect is Puigdemont himself, the former Catalan governor who, after Catalonia's unilateral and illegal declaration of independence in October 2017, chose to flee to Belgium to avoid arrest. In recent days, the Spanish Supreme Court decided to investigate the leader of Junts in the “Tsunami Democratic” trial, on the mobilizations and clashes that occurred in Catalonia after the illegal referendum of 2017.
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