The Parliament of Catalonia addresses the rise of the far-right in Europe in a motion by Esquerra

Member of Parliament Adriana Delgado asserts that "the political conflict in Catalonia is not a problem for Europe, but an opportunity to build a stronger, more democratic Europe"

Parliament called on November 27 on the state’s political and social institutions and agents "not to normalize fascism or whitewash their policies," in a motion by Esquerra Republicana. Expressing concern for the growth of the far-right in Europe, particularly in Spain, the Chamber called on political forces "not to collaborate with the extreme right, nor count on their votes or share street demonstrations."

Upon passing the motion by the Republicans, Parliament also called on the Spanish government to "abandon the path of recentralizing and opressive policies, some of which are conditioned by the rise of the far-right." In addition, the motion states the far-right "often goes about unchastened in the streets" with the apparent "connivance" of the judicial institutions and the state’s police forces.

The Parliament calls for "the exercise and safeguard of all fundamental rights and freedoms before those Spanish institutions and entities of the far-right that seek to breach them." It also emphasized the right to free speech, assembly, protest and self-determination, as well as gender equality and non-discrimination for any reason and of any kind. Likewise, commitment was made to the construction of a democratic Europe, while alerting that "the instrumentalizing by Spain of the European institutions is a serious threat for this Europe of shared rights."

Legitimizing the far-right is sharing demonstrations, strengthening it is depending on their votes, and whitewashing it is buying into their discourse
Adriana Delgado Esquerra Republicana MP

The motion denounces the "lack of respect by the Spanish Supreme Court for the European institutions." Oriol Junqueras, the President of Esquerra Republicana sentenced to 13 years in prison, should never have been convicted or excluded from running in the general elections before ascertaining the ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union on his immunity as an MEP. Likewise, the fresh European Arrest Warrant for the extradition of Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comín, two Catalan politicians exiled in Brussels, should not have been issued without prior authorization from the European Parliament.

Given these circumstances, the Catalan Parliament has called upon the European Parliament to "ensure the rights of representation" of over two million citizens who voted for Messrs. Junqueras, Puigdemont and Comín, and which Spain has arbitrarily disregarded." The motion states that this distortion of the equation in the European Parliament and the imposition of administrative obstacles is "a serious precedent that can be exploited to silence political dissidence."

Finally, the need is clear for the European institutions to be established as "guarantors of the fundamental rights of citizens and of a dialogue that is to reach political solutions for political problems", and it is urged this resolution be conveyed to the governing bodies of the European Parliament.

Republican MP Adriana Delgado who defended the motion stated that "if we want the European project to survive the assault of the new far-right that is gaining strength everywhere, the commitment to guaranteeing civil and political rights of the citizens must be firm." In this regard, "the Catalan political conflict is not a problem for Europe, but rather an opportunity to build a stronger, more democratic Europe." For this Republican, the Spanish state and the European institutions "must decide between making a full commitment to dialogue and democracy, or feeding the far-right based on saying “no” to everything, on repression and on litigation."

"Legitimizing the far-right is sharing arenas like demonstrations; strengthening it is when parties depend on their votes; whitewashing it is buying into part of their discourse. Awakening fascism is sharing the role of prosecution in a trial," said Ms. Delgado, referring to the part played by far-right party Vox in the case against the Catalan political prisoners.