Catalonia’s Plea To Endorse Independence Falls On Deaf Ears Abroad
The Catalan government’s drive to find international support
for its sovereignty plan is running into a wall of silence and rejection.
The nationalist premier, Artur Mas of the CiU coalition,
needs such endorsement if he finally decides to hold a referendum without permission
from Madrid, where the central authorities are arguing that it would be
unconstitutional.
That is why Catalonia’s network of foreign delegations has
been working double shifts to seek allies in Brussels, France, Britain, the
United States and elsewhere.
But so far, the independence drive has met with little
sympathy abroad, where silence has been the most common response — so much so
that when European Commission President José Manuel Durao Barroso merely
acknowledged receipt of a letter from Mas on the issue, the Catalan government
hailed it as a resounding success.
It’s not about lobbying, but about extending the
Generalitat’s political management”
“[His] reply has disappointed the Spanish government because
it proves a European interest in the referendum,” claimed Francesc Homs, the
Catalan presidency commissioner. What Homs failed to mention was that Barroso’s
seven-line reply noted that this is an internal Spanish affair and that if
Catalonia were to secede, it would automatically be excluded from the European
Union and would have to reapply for membership.
“We are detecting an interest in the process. But no
complicity,” admits Francesc Gambús, head of the Catalan government’s foreign
affairs department.
Gambús’s mission is to encourage and develop bilateral
relations between the Catalan executive and other governments, and to
coordinate the work of the 70 or so offices abroad. Although most of these deal
with economic issues, there are five that conduct political work as well:
Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin and New York.
“It’s not about lobbying, but about extending the
Generalitat’s political management,” says Gambús. “And the sovereignty process
is a part of that.”
In fact, Catalan authorities have decided to transfer their
US headquarters from New York to Washington so that the delegate, Andrew Davis,
can be closer to the political action.
“This is the only change to the delegations that is tied to
the [sovereignty] process,” says Gambús, adding that Davis will be shuttling
back and forth between both cities.
“Washington is where the White House and the think-tanks
are, but you also have to be in New York because that’s where the United
Nations is, and it’s important to keep working there.”
As for the London delegation, it has practically no
relations with the British government, and communicates instead with the
Foreign Office. The relationship with the Scottish executive is based mostly on
technical and environmental issues and avoids all talk of independence. In
Wales, however, Catalan authorities have found a more sympathetic ear, with
First Minister Carwyn Jones visiting Barcelona in early 2013.
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