SCANDINAVIAN countries are to vote on whether they should officially seek a “negotiated solution” to the political deadlock in Catalonia.

Finnish MP Mikko Karna, who has spoken out frequently about the impasse, said the Nordic Council – which includes Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – had debated the crisis, and a resolution asking ministers to “promote dialogue” would be voted on in June.

In a statement, Karna, pictured with Carles Puigdemont, said the motion, which he presented to the council, had been debated “intensely”, and that while several politicians said they had “strong sympathies” with Catalonia “many people are afraid to say their opinions out loud in public”.

The resolution makes no reference to Catalonia’s political status, but indicated that “freedom of speech, rule of law, human rights and democracy should be promoted in the solution to the crisis”. It was Karna who invited exiled Catalan leader Puigdemont to visit Finland last month.

While he was there, the Spanish Supreme Court reissued a European Arrest Warrant for the deposed president. Puigdemont decided to return to Brussels, where he was living, by car, but was arrested by German police.

Meanwhile, a major trade union has warned Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s ruling People’s Party (PP) that it is taking advantage of the Catalan crisis to take an authoritarian path that undermines the judicial system. Workers Commissions (CCOO) cited the trials against union members, the passing of a so-called gagging law and decisions by the Spanish attorney general in relation to freedom of speech as well as the crackdown on pro-independence leaders.

It also called for a new government to be formed in Catalonia as a precondition for resolving the political conflict and de-escalating “tensions caused by the judicialisation of politics”.

The wealthy north-eastern state has been without a government since Madrid imposed direct rule following its declaration of independence last October.