Politico warns “jail time threats” not a good look in Europe

The European weekly mentions Catalonia as one of the six crises that could spoil the EU’s summer

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La manifestació a la Meridiana de l’última Diada.

BarcelonaPolitico, the leading European weekly, has run an article outlining the six crises that could spoil Europe’s summer, one of which is Catalonia. The newspaper takes aim at the response that Madrid has in store for Carles Puigdemont, the president of Catalonia, who has vowed to hold an independence referendum on October 1st. Politico argues that “threatening people with jail time for asking for a vote is not a good look in a Continent that prides itself on its human rights record”.

The European weekly argues that “neither Madrid nor the Catalan leaders are likely to back down”. It also expects mass street demonstrations by independence supporters and mentions the possibility of “armed forces” on the streets.

Politico also describes the EU’s position on the matter: it claims that the EU “goes out of its way not to comment on the Catalonia issue, because any word it utters gets blown out of proportion by whichever of the two sides it offends”. Still, the article warns that whatever happens in Catalonia in the coming weeks will be watched carefully across the bloc, including by the Flemish in Belgium, the Scots and the Basques.

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