Swiss, Estonian parliaments set up groups to monitor Catalan process

Mathias Reynard, co-president of the Swiss intergroup, stated that they support the right to decide but avoided giving an opinion on Catalan independence

Catalan News Agency
1 min
El ministre d’Afers Estrangers de Dinamarca, Martin Lidegaard, va respondre a la pregunta sobre l’autodeterminació catalana del diputat d’Aliança Roja-Verda.

The Swiss and Estonian parliaments have also created a group to closely follow the Catalan independence process, according to Catalonia’s RAC1 radio Friday morning. The co-president of the Swiss intergroup, socialist Mathias Reynard, explained to the station that they support the right to decide, but remained silent on independence. For his part, Albert Royo, Secretary General of Diplocat, explained that in the face of the Spanish government's veto on Catalonia’s formal contacts with foreign governments, his organization's strategy involves reaching out to parliaments. As of now there are 11 that have expressed interest in the process.

Mathias Reynard said that the Swiss are "shocked to see that in certain countries people can't vote on the status of their nation: independence or autonomy". "Without speaking to the issue of independence, we generally support exercising the right to vote", stated Reynard.

In turn, Royo explained that "there is direct, constant contact with most European governments and the majority of European parliaments". “The bulk of these contacts are carried out in a discreet manner, but they do exist, because our counterparts are keen to receive first-hand information about what is happening here", said Royo. The intergroups appeared first in Finland, in April in Estonia, and in July in Switzerland, where the parliament had already suggested to its government a mediator role between Catalonia and the Spanish government.

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