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Catalan President: Now Is Not the Time for a Unilateral Independence Vote

Pere Aragonès discusses negotiations with Madrid, Catalan views on NATO, and prospects for a future referendum.

By , an editorial fellow at Foreign Policy, and , a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy.
Catalan leader Pere Aragonès gives a speech.
Catalan leader Pere Aragonès gives a speech.
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya’s leader Pere Aragonès (left) gives a speech in front of Catalonia’s regional parliament speaker, Laura Borràs, during a session of the Catalan parliament on March 26, 2021. Quique García/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

In 2017, Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia unilaterally voted for independence, setting off the country’s worst political crisis in decades. Since then, some of the movement’s leaders have fled the country, facing charges of sedition and rebellion if they return. Five years on, criminal cases remain open against leaders who stayed.

Clara Gutman-Argemí is an editorial fellow at Foreign Policy.

Amy Mackinnon is a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @ak_mack

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