The Ministry demands the precautionary closure of the delegations that the Government of Quim Torra has just opened in Argentina, Mexico and Tunisia
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has detailed before the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia (TSJC) more than 20 allegedly illegal actions of the ambassadors of the Government of the Generalitat abroad with a single purpose: to internationalize the process and work for the independence of Catalonia.
The department headed by Josep Borrell has presented these actions in his appeal to stop the opening of new embassies of Catalonia in Argentina, Mexico and Tunisia. And for the TSJC to order its immediate closure as a precautionary measure before resolving the substance of the appeal.
As the lawyer of the State assures in the letter to which EL MUNDO has had access, the delegations of the Generalitat cause “damages of difficult or impossible reparation to the image of Spain and to the Spanish foreign policy”.
The resource, of 35 folios – including the attached documentation – explains that these embassies “have been systematically carrying out actions contrary to the current ordinance”. Its “unconstitutional purpose,” Foreign explains, is “the creation of a state structure at the service of a national transition project of a secessionist nature.”
The Government understands that the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has become “a fundamental instrument for the internationalization of the process, spreading the thesis of secessionism, denigrating the international image of Spain and breaching the obligation of political neutrality of the Administration public and duty and loyalty to the Constitution and the State. “
The letter recalls that the Generalitat has been “in a state of institutional rebellion” since 2012. And that after the application of article 155 and the holding of the 2017 regional elections, the new president, Quim Torra, has expressed “a clear will to keep the road map to secession in Catalonia.
To justify the TSJC ordering the closure of the new embassies in Mexico City, Buenos Aires and Tunisia, the appeal filed at the end of last September details more than 20 allegedly illegal actions of the Government delegates in eight European countries and in U.S.
The Generalitat has 15 delegations serving in 39 countries. Some were closed during the period of application of article 155 in Catalonia. Then they reopened and the Government began to design an expansion strategy that includes opening others.
Here is what was stated by the Government of Pedro Sánchez in his appeal to the Justice on the actions of these delegations:
‘Embassy’ in Zagreb
The delegate of the Government for the Balkans, Bulgaria and Greece, Eric Hauck, said at the opening of his embassy that his priority is “to seek support to interrupt the silence of the European Union regarding the violation of human rights in Catalonia carried out for the Spanish State. “
Hauck himself said last September on Radio Estóvenla that “there are still political prisoners and there are still members of the Catalan Government in exile.” In the same interview he said that the fight for the independence of Catalonia is about “the struggle between fascism and democracy.”
On the Diada and on a Slovenian television network, the delegate reiterated that “in Catalonia we are not only fighting for the rights of 7.5 million Catalans, this is also a struggle between fascism and democracy in Europe.”
United Kingdom and Ireland
Torra delegate in London, Sergi Marcén, plays, according to Foreign Affairs, “systematically an activity contrary to the interests of the State.” To do this, he has sent letters to multiple political leaders to get them to support the imprisoned independence politicians.
On his initiative, the Interparliamentary group for Catalonia (APPG) has been created as the “spearhead of secessionism in the British Parliament”.
Exterior details that the website of this group was created in the delegation itself. Marcén also explicitly supports Gibraltar’s thesis in its ongoing dispute with Spain.
Switzerland
The department headed by Josep Borrell holds the delegate in Switzerland, Manuel Manonelles, responsible for “performing a work systematically focused on promoting the unilateral independence process.” In no case has Manonelles contacted the Spanish embassy in Switzerland. But “he has been permanently directing to the federal, cantonal and local institutions of the Confederation” to favor the independence cause.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs accuses the Catalan ambassador of having created and financed the Swiss-Catalonia Interparliamentary Group, which has organized trips and visits by authorities that carry independence messages. This organization would have prepared parliamentary motions to the federal Executive on the independence of Catalonia, among other actions.
On April 7, the delegate in Switzerland organized an act entitled Threats to human rights in Spain, in coordination with a German deputy. In addition, he has denounced alleged human rights violations in Catalonia before the Council of Europe.
Germany
The ambassador in Berlin, Marie Kapretz, has organized acts in favor of independence by inviting members of the Bundestag. Last February, she organized the visit to Berlin of former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, fled from Spanish Justice.
In addition, she is in constant contact with the deputies in the Bundestag who filed a motion on April 4 to urge an “international mediation” in Catalonia and asking that Germany “grant asylum to the escapees of Spanish justice.”
U.S
At the reopening of the Generalitat delegation in Washington, the then Foreign Action Councilor, Ernest Maragall, assured that the new delegate, Victoria Alsina, will work “with the expectation that Catalonia will have recognition of its status as a country.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “proof” of “numerous efforts of the delegation before organs and institutions of the United States always in defense of the independence postulates and to the detriment of the image of Spain”.
France
Foreign Affairs believes that the delegation of the Government in Paris is behind the Declaration of the Regional Council of Occitania in favor of the independence of Catalonia. Likewise, the appeal ensures that “it is difficult to think” that this embassy has been oblivious to the manifesto of 41 French senators on March 25 or the letter of 52 French deputies last September.
In both cases, parliamentarians from the neighboring country were in favor of the independence prisoners and denounced the alleged violation of their rights. The delegation organized the trip of the Minister of Foreign Action, Alfred Bosch, to Paris, in which he disqualified the Spanish constitutional system, as well as the action of the Executive and Judicial powers in the case against the leaders of the process.
Italy
The Government also believes that the delegation in Rome is behind some motions in favor of the independentists, such as the Declaration of the Piedmont Regional Council approved last March.
Portugal
The ambassador of the Generalitat in Lisbon, Rui Reis, recently said in an interview that in Spain “there are people arrested for exercising their fundamental political rights; they are political prisoners.”
In summary, the State’s attorney, on behalf of Foreign Affairs, denounces that the Torra delegations are “trying to create relations with State authorities in areas where the autonomous communities lack competencies.” All these actions “are aimed at discrediting the international reputation of Spain.”
The appeal concludes that “if the precautionary measure for the suspension of delegations is not adopted”, “continuous performance of actions contrary to the general interest in clear violation of the exclusive powers that correspond to the State in international relations matters” will be allowed.
https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2019/10/09/5d9e0220fdddff3b2e8b45d9.html
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