EU slaps down Catalonia’s hopes of staying in bloc: ‘We only recognise SPAIN’
The Catalan government has threatened to issue a unilateral declaration of independence from the central government in Madrid after staging a ‘banned’ referendum.
And some separatists hope remaining in the bloc was possible.
But EU economics commissioner Mr Moscovici said: “An independent Catalonia cannot be a member of the European Union. There is no doubt about that. Brussels recognises only one member state, and that is Spain.”
The tug of war between Madrid and Barcelona is a “painful situation,” but the solution to the crisis can only come from inside Spain, the economics chief said: “This is not a crisis that can be solved in Brussels or in Paris, nor anywhere else for that matter.”