The European Parliament will officially recognize the Catalan politicians Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comin, and Oriol Junqueras as members next week. The three Catalans were elected as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in May.
They have not yet been able to take their seats because Spain demanded that they first swear allegiance to the Spanish constitution. Puigdemont and Comin are wanted by Madrid in connection with an illegal and chaotic referendum in Catalonia. In October 2017, separatists in the region around Barcelona tried to break away from Spain through this referendum. Virtually only separatists voted in the referendum, which led to a protracted political crisis and significant economic damage.
However, former party leader Junqueras is already in prison in Spain. The leader of the left-nationalist party ERC was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in October for his role in the Catalan independence process. According to the verdict, he is also prohibited from holding any political or public office during that time. The Catalan nationalists dispute this.
The European Parliament has stated that it recognizes both Junqueras, who is incarcerated, and Carles Puigdemont and Toni Comin, who fled to Belgium, as MEPs with the accompanying parliamentary immunity. The EP expects all three Catalan politicians to be present at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on January 13.
Last Friday, the Spanish electoral council ruled that Junqueras must remain in prison and cannot be an MEP, a decision that the Supreme Court in Madrid is expected to confirm or overturn in the coming days.
The two politicians from another Catalan party, Puigdemont and Comin, are residing in Belgium and feared arrest if they set foot in Spain.
Belgian judiciary has meanwhile decided to disregard a Spanish arrest warrant against the two separatist Catalan politicians. A decision was expected on February 3, but according to Spanish media, the warrant is being shelved because the two have acquired parliamentary immunity.
The European Court of Justice paved the way to the European Parliament for the Catalan leaders on December 16. Although they won seats in the European election on May 26, they were unable to assume them because a Spanish law requires European elected representatives to first swear allegiance to the Spanish constitution in Madrid.