title: France would not recognize unilateral Catalan declaration: minister
text: PARIS (Reuters) - France will not recognize Catalonia if the Spanish region unilaterally declares independence, European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau said on Monday.  If there were to be a declaration of independence, it would be unilateral, and it would not be recognized,  Loiseau said on CNews television. Catalonia, which has its own language and culture and is led by a pro-independence regional government, held a referendum on Oct. 1 over secession in defiance of Spain s constitutional court, which had declared the vote illegal.      Catalonia cannot be defined by the vote organized by the independence movement just over a week ago,  the French junior minister said.  This crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue at all levels of Spanish politics.  A hasty decision to recognize independence following such a unilateral declaration would amount to fleeing France s responsibilities, Loiseau added.  If independence were to be recognized - which is not something that s being discussed - the most immediate consequence would be that (Catalonia) automatically left the European Union.  