Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : I. Popov
Assistant Professor, Department of Diplomacy, Moscow State Institute (University) of International
Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Science (History)
THE FALL OF 2015 brought along an escalation of a
separatist conflict in Spain as a movement in Catalonia
for the secession of the autonomous region from the
country gained momentum.
The nationalists needed early elections after a plan of
Catalonian President Artur Mas, the CDC leader, to call
a self-determination referendum for November 9, 2014
was thrown out earlier that autumn by the Spanish
Constitutional Court at the initiative of Spanish Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Unable to go ahead with the planned referendum, the
Catalonian government organized a "citizen participation process on the political future of Catalonia,"
which was held on the same date, November 9, and was a non-binding plebiscite in which Catalonians
were able to answer the same two questions.
The Spanish central government's law enforcement arsenal and the unconditional support it has from
the West would enable it to overthrow all the plans of the Catalonian independence movement.
In fact, the Socialists see their Catalonian election campaign as a springboard for running in the national
polls. They have announced that, if they win December's elections, they will hold negotiations with the
Catalonian nationalists on reformatting relations between Catalonia and Madrid on a basis fundamentally
different from the current one.
Another serious loser in September's elections was Spain's ruling center-right People's Party. Its repre-
sentation in the Catalonian legislature dropped from 19 seats won in 2012, which had been a record
achievement for the party, to 11. This had been predictable - the People's Party government in Madrid
had always uncompromisingly turned down the idea of Catalonian independence.
The essence of the Catalonia problem and similar issues elsewhere in today's Europe is the refusal of
political elites to recognize the right of regions with distinctive ethnic or cultural identities to self-de-
termination.
The political crisis in Spain has many aspects to it and is not limited to relations between the center
and the regions. For instance, Spanish politics are dominated by two parties, the center-left PSOE and
center-right People's Party, which regularly replace each other in government.
The chain of corruption scandals came on top of austerity measures used by the central government
in addressing a deep structural economic crisis that erupted in Spain in 2008 and is still partially unsur-
mounted.
There is still another remarkable point. NATO has never weighed into any of the struggles over the
Catalonian independence bid, either those within or those outside Spain. The North Atlantic alliance's
lack of reaction to the possibility of one of its most loyal and reliable members losing a strategic part
of its territory is highly unlikely accidental.
http://interaffairs.ru
Catalonia's Dilemma