FORMER Catalan president Carles Puigdemont – now an MEP – has urged Europe’s top diplomat to quit after a humiliating visit to Moscow.
Josep Borrell, Spain’s former foreign minister, was in the city last week when he urged Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to release the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
He stood silently, smiling as Lavrov described Europe as an “unreliable partner” and appeared taken aback when he discovered Russia had expelled three European diplomats for expressing support for Navalny.
More than 70 MEPs called for Borrell’s resignation, and yesterday Puigdemont reminded him of the jailed independence leaders in Catalonia – the political prisoners.
“You should have told Lavrov that he was wrong, that Spain does not have three political prisoners, but nine,” said Puigdemont. “That they cannot be compared to Alexei Navalny because he has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and the Catalan leaders have been sentenced to between nine and 13 years in prison for organising a referendum.
“We had warned that the double standards of the European Union undermine its global credibility as a defender of freedoms.
“And now there are humiliating consequences for everyone.”
Puigdemont said Borrell had undermined the EU’s global credibility as a defender of rights and added: “I want a Europe that is strong for human rights and without complexes.
“In front of everyone, not just Russia, or the United States, China, Morocco or Turkey, but in front of everyone.
“You are not that voice, Mr Borrell … make a Borrellexit.”
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