15.07.2014 - 20:17
The president of the Catalan Government, Artur Mas, wants the Yes vote on the referendum on independence to win next September 18th in Scotland because he thinks it could be useful for Catalonia, according to an interview he did with the US-based Bloomberg news channel: ‘My personal preference—this is not the preference of the Catalan Government— but my personal preference as a Catalan citizen, and as a European citizen, would be a vote in Scotland for independence. If that happens, it would be useful for Catalonia because we would see at that time the development of the negotiations between the Scottish and British authorities with the European institutions in order to keep Scotland within the European Union.’
Here is the video of the interview:
Mas also spoke about Catalonia’s goal of remaining “in the European Union, in the Euro, in NATO and in Schengen”.
Bloomberg reporter Ben Sills asked, “And do you have a fallback plan for a scenario where the popular majority may be strongly in favor of independence and yet the European institutions are telling you that if you allow that majority to express its political wishes, you are going to end up outside of the European umbrella?”
Mas answered, “Imagine that there is a real social majority in Catalonia for independence, but at the same time there is the real goal to be in the European Union and in the Euro area and so on. I think that at that point, negotiations would have to be started and I am sure that this kind of negotiations could have a positive end. Why not? Because we would have to protect economic interests and also social interests. Don’t forget that Catalonia is a net contributor to the European Union. Since Spain joined the European Union more than 25 years ago, we have always been net contributors to the European institutions and there is a real and positive will of the Catalan people to stay in this commercial, trade, and economic framework.”
