European Union fails in Catalonia conflict

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has accused the European Union of failure in the Catalonia conflict. “Instead of using their experience in conflict prevention and all their diplomatic skills to keep the Catalonia conflict from escalating, the EU states decided to take sides with the Spanish government, which is relying on coercion and repression. Thus, the EU is partly responsible for the escalation of the dispute – a predictable dispute that cannot be solved by idleness and by trying to ride it out,” said the STP’s director, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Saturday. “Soon, the EU’s reputation will be damaged by ghastly footage from Barcelona – footage we have so far only seen from dictatorial countries. For the dictators in China, Russia, and Sudan, this will be a welcome opportunity to reject European criticism concerning human rights violations in these countries.”

“The German government should not have let spokesman Steffen Seibert promise the Spanish government every support and merely add a subordinate clause asking the conflict parties to enter a dialogue. This is the wrong signal to Madrid! During the last few years, Prime Minister Marino Rajoy has shown that he is incapable and unwilling to enter a dialogue with the Catalans,” said Delius.

“It is especially problematic to unconditionally take sides with the Spanish government, as this appears to encourage Prime Minister Rajoy to reject any political compromise,” said Delius. “However, in order to settle conflicts, one must be prepared to find compromises and to enable the opponent to back down without losing credibility. Recently, Rajoy has been ignoring this principle – relying on escalation instead. His actions might turn out to be quite problematic for Spain and for the EU.”

The STP pointed out that there is hardly a conflict in the world in which the EU does not aim to encourage dialogue. “In this case, however – an internal conflict – it has failed, and is thus about to lose its international credibility. At the same time, this is causing problems for the efforts of non-governmental organizations working towards sustainable peace and democratization,” said Delius.

Headerphoto: Assemblea.cat via Flickr