FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Catalonia’s president Pere Aragones shared an “interesting” half-hour meeting over the weekend, discussing independence, welfare and climate change policy.
Aragones, who became Catalonia’s president in May, is in Glasgow for the two-week COP26 climate summit.
The 38-year-old is currently in discussions with the Spanish PM with the aim of securing a Catalan referendum plus amnesty for the figures still facing prosecution over the 2017 vote. However, Pedro Sanchez has ruled out holding another referendum.
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In an interview with The Herald, Sanchez thanked Scots for their “solidarity” with Catalonia during its indyref, which saw police use violent tactics to stop the poll.
“I want to thank the Scottish people for their solidarity and support towards Catalonia, especially in the most difficult days, when we had our people in prison, when there there was the referendum of October 1st, and the Spanish policemen were beating our people in the polling stations,” he said.
“I want to thank also the solidarity of the Scottish people when the Supreme Court of Spain decided the imprisonment of some of our leaders – the sentence that sums up 99 years of imprisonment. I only have words of gratitude towards the Scottish people.”
Aragones described his meeting with the First Minister as “very interesting” because of Scotland’s pro-indy government. However, he added that climate change and other policy was the main focus of the talks.
“It’s also interesting because of the social policies and the commitment against climate change that makes the Scottish Government a reference point for all the progressive governments of the stateless nations,” he told the newspaper.
“When you have a meeting with a prominent politician like Nicola Sturgeon, obviously you have the opportunity to talk about the situation of your country, the situation in Catalonia and in Scotland.
“But yesterday we were focused on some special issues that Scotland has a strong leadership [on], all the climate change policy.”
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On indyref2 itself, the Catalan president said Scotland’s future will be “decided by the Scottish people”.
“As president of Catalonia, I want to express all respect for the decision of the Scottish people,” he said. “Whatever the Scottish people decide, Catalonia will support Scotland.
“For us, dialogue and negotiation is the way to solve this conflict.”
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