EXILED and deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont arrived in Edinburgh yesterday to address an international event on Catalan independence.

He will address a Beyond Borders Scotland discussion at Traquair House, in Innerleithen, on the subject “Where now for Catalonia and Europe”, which will also consider “the emerging democratic deficit in Europe”.

Puigdemont has been in self-imposed exile in Brussels since the Catalan referendum led to a declaration of independence and faces arrest in Spain on a charge of rebellion – for which Germany refused to extradite him on a European arrest warrant. He is now free to travel anywhere in Europe, except from Spain.

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Sources close to Puigdemont said he landed in Edinburgh from Brussels yesterday afternoon.

“The trip was done with normality,” said our source.

They said he was invited by Beyond Borders Scotland’s organisers.

The forum is a cultural and political event that focuses on the exchange and dialogue between nations, peoples and cultures.

This year’s two-day event will feature academics and diplomats, particularly those from Europe and North America, discussing international negotiations, refugees and self-determination.

The line-up includes Former UN Under-Secretary General Jeffrey Feltman and UN Special Representative Michael Keating discussing how to make peace amid some of the world’s most volatile conflicts.

Beyond Borders – a not-for-profit organisation – was founded by Mark Muller Stuart QC, who specialises in public international law, criminal, terrorism and human rights-related litigation. SNP MP Stephen Gethins and journalist Allan Little are listed among its special advisers.