TOP Catalan pro-independence figures have hit out at the European Commission for meeting with an “extremist” group.
Together for Catalunya (Junts per Catalunya) MEPs Carles Puigdemont and Antoni Comin, along with fellow MEP Carla Ponsati, submitted a question to the EU Commission.
It asks why Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders met with the Catalan Civil Society (CCS) party.
Taking to Twitter, Ponsati wrote: “We have asked the @EU_Commission why commissioner @dreynders had the nerve to meet with an extremist anti-Catalan organization with ties to the far right. After years of repeating the ‘internal affair’ tune with regard to Catalonia, this is shocking to say the least.”
We have asked the @EU_Commission why commissioner @dreynders had the nerve to meet with an extremist anti-Catalan organization with ties to the far right. After years of repeating the “internal affair” tune with regard to Catalonia, this is shocking to say the least. pic.twitter.com/BBKxWLBQIJ
— Clara Ponsatí (@ClaraPonsati) December 10, 2021
Reynders met with the CCS on December 9 for 45 minutes of talks as the party handed over a report that included claims on the "expulsion of judicial servants in Catalonia".
CCS has previously organised pro-Union rallies in Barcelona, with one such event in 2017 after Catalonia’s vote for independence attracting an estimated crowd of 300,000 – well below the millions at pro-independence marches – that saw fascist salutes and clashes with police.
The letter from the Junts MEPs asked three questions: “What was the purpose of the meeting?
“What are the criteria for deciding which organisations can meet with a commissioner?
“Does the commission approve of its members meeting with organisations with ties to far-right movements?”
The letter states: “On December 9 commissioner Reynders met with the Spanish organisation Societat Civil Catalana (SCC) to discuss the political situation of Catalonia.
“This self-proclaimed ‘civil platform’ created in 2014 to oppose the independence movement in Catalonia is in fact far from being the grassroots movement it purports to be.
“It was founded and financed by politicians and important businesses with the specific goal of generating the appearance of a popular mobilisation against the independence of Catalonia.
“SCC is not even registered in the EU Transparency Register and has never been open about its accounts and annual activity reports.
“More worryingly, SCC close ties with the Spanish far-right are well documented.
“Vox MEP Buxade is one of its founding members. Another of its founding members, Mr Javier Barraycoa, held the presentation of his book in the headquarters of a neonazi party.
“SCC founding president, Mr Bosch, uploaded videos of far-right ideological content under a pseudonym and attended a commemoration of Franco’s coup.
“Representatives of Fundacion Francisco Franco and of racist and neonazi parties often attend SCC’s events.”
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