On 8 March, the European Parliament will pronounce in plenary session on suspending the right of immunity of three Catalan politicians, Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comin and Clara Ponsati, the representatives of JUNTS Per Europa. This decision takes place after the European Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs has succumbed to pressure from Spain and accepted the request for the suspension of immunity.
This news is shocking and outrageous. Just to make it clear to everyone, it is not the views and convictions of the three Catalan politicians that need to be judged, but the MEPs will decide whether these three politicians will be remanded for political reasons.
It’s been thirty-one years since we have ridden ourselves of the grip of dictatorship. We looked at Western Europe and waited for European integration as if it would guarantee our freedom once and for all. That no one will be persecuted for his convictions, and no one will be persecuted for his national affiliation.
At the time of the Catalan independence referendum, we had seen the Spanish police force innocent people, including women and the elderly on the ground, kicking them, yet we did not hear one word in protest from Brussels. The European Union passively tolerated such flagrant violations of the rule of law. And now, it is about to take an active role in the violation of fundamental human rights. It is about to trample on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to turn against the fundamental values of the two treaties on which the European Union is founded.
The very fact that such a vote could take place is outrageous. We see not only the state terror raising its head in one country or another, but the European Union, the community of democratic states, approving it. If the inconceivable happens, it will leave a permanent stain on the alliance of the 27 Member States, Something which no citizen of the European Union can afford to stay silent on.
We show solidarity with Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comin, Clara Ponsati and the Catalan people, fully and unconditionally.
Izsák Balázs
President of the Szekler National Council
Marosvásárhely, March 1, 2021
Szekler National Council