Víctor Recacha, 15 September 2021
MEPs approve a proposal by the Social Democrats to include the independence ties with the Kremlin in a report on Russia
The European Parliament has asked this Wednesday that the ties between the Catalan independence movement and Russian intelligence be investigated , following the information published by the American newspaper The New York Times . The majority of MEPs have approved the amendment presented by the Social Democratic group on the ties that the New York newspaper brought to light between Josep Lluís Alay , head of the office of former President Carles Puigdemont , and the Kremlin.
The proposal called for investigating the Kremlin’s links with the Catalan independence movement. The MEPs of the PP , PSOE , Citizens and Vox have expressed themselves in favor , while the representatives of Junts, ERC, PNV and United We Can have rejected the amendment. The greens have abstained en bloc. The MEP Maite Pagaza , from Cs – registered with the European Liberals, ALDE – has also brought to the session a proposal that called for such an investigation.
462 votes in favor
“The recent revelations about close and regular contacts between Russian officials, including members of the security service, and representatives of a group of Catalan secessionists in Spain require an in-depth investigation,” says the text that has received the approval of 462 parliamentarians .
According to the Croatian socialist Tonino Picula , author of the amendment, this case “could turn out to be another example of Russian interference in the Member States and of Russia’s constant attempts to exploit any issue that could promote the internal destabilization of the Union.”
It will be part of the Russian dossier
Thus, the report prepared by the popular Lithuanian Andrius Kubilius on the relationship with Russia will include this request. It will be approved this Thursday in its entirety and will demand that the EU be prepared not to recognize the Russian elections on September 19, when the 450 seats in the State Duma are renewed .
The report calls for the European bloc to take this position “if the elections are recognized as fraudulent and that they have been carried out in violation of democratic principles and international law”, something that Kubilius considers to be happening in Russia, where the Kremlin “is destroying political competition, leaving no chance of fair elections. “
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