19. EU officials supported violence in Catalonia. Fake or not?
The referendum for independence held in Catalonia on October 1, 2017, where citizens were shot right at the entrance to polling stations, in the context of a complete silence of EU officials, demonstrates that Article 2 from EU treaty about democracy and human rights is only “chatter”. If the EU bureaucracy keep silent about the violence in Catalonia, it means they support it. “World powers prepare for war in Europe,” proclaimed the headline of the Russian-language site Polit Ekspert on the day of the Catalan parliament’s declaration of independence. A Moldovan politician, Bogdan Ţîrdea, claimed in a Facebook post: “EU officials supported the violence in Catalonia.” An article for the Kremlin-backed news agency Sputnik about a minor secessionist appeal on the Balearic Islands was given the headline “Independence movements: a contagious timebomb in a state that does not listen”. Even The Guardian reported that the response from EU has been “muted”
HOW CAN WE VERIFY THIS?
The European Commission issued a statement on the events in Catalonia where EC states that the vote in Catalonia was not in line with the Spanish constitution, but underlines that “Violence can never be an instrument in politics“.
WHAT ARE OTHER SOURCES SAYING?
DW reported reactions from different European countries on the violence in Catalonia where the violence is condemned. Both Reuters and the Guardian report on the statements from various EU leaders where they condemn violence. Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, was among the first national leaders to denounce the violence, which the Catalan government said had left 465 people injured as police forcibly removed voters from polling stations and on one occasion fired rubber bullets. “Violence can never be the answer!” Michel said on Twitter. His Slovenian counterpart, Miro Cerar, also expressed his concern, saying he was “concerned” and calling for “political dialogue, rule of law and peaceful solutions”.
Officials working at the East Stratcom taskforce in Brussels say they have seen an increase in disinformation linked to the Catalan referendum, in line with the explosion of media interest in the story. The unit started work in September 2015 as part of an attempt to debunk fake news and improve understanding of EU policies in eastern Europe. The findings emerged after Spain’s foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, said intelligence suggested Russian hackers were targeting the European Union. Spain raised the issue at a meeting of EU foreign and defence ministers in Brussels, reports The Guardian. Defence Minister Dolores de Cospedal said it was clear that a lot the messaging on social media around the Catalan crisis came from Russian territory, though a definitive link to the government had not been proved.
FAKE OR NOT?
Not true. Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, has said that Brussels must abide by the decisions of the Spanish government and of Spain’s constitutional court. The commission has said on several occasions that a vote in favor of Catalan independence would be recognized but only if the referendum that produced it complied with the Spanish constitution and had been ruled legal.
