Greens demand urgent European Commission intervention in Catalonia
A Green MSP is calling for the European Commission to urgently intervene in Catalonia after news reports emerged showing Spanish police attacking and injuring hundreds of peaceful civilians on referendum day.
Ross Greer MSP, the Scottish Greens’ external affairs spokesperson, said:
"The images coming out of Catalonia are deeply upsetting. To see Spanish police in full riot gear beating, throwing or firing rubber bullets at voters should be condemned without hesitation by any democrat.
"It's not for any of us to say whether or not Catalonia should be independent, but we should all stand up for the right of the Catalan people to decide their own future without being literally thrown from their polling stations by a brutal police force.
"The European Commission must immediately investigate the violent actions of the Spanish police across Catalonia today.
“To resolve this peacefully, the EC must act as or facilitate a mediator between Madrid and Barcelona. A state at the heart of Europe taking such oppressive actions against its own people is simply unacceptable and brute force is clearly no solution. The Spanish government has disgraced itself in full view of the world and the world cannot be silent.”