Juncker: If we Allow Catalonia to Separate, and Others will do the Same

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he does not want Catalonia to become independent because it would encourage other regions to do the same and make EU governance too complicated, Reuters reported.

"If we allow Catalonia  to separate - and it is not our job - others will do the same, I do not want that," Juncker said in a speech at the University of Luxembourg. In his words, he is "very disturbed" by the separatist tendencies in Europe and has urged Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to make the situation come back under control.

Given the Catalan appeals for a mediating role for the EU, he pointed out that the commission could not mediate if only one of the parties wanted it. The EU has already trusted Rajoy to settle the matter, and has identified the situation around Catalonia as an internal affair for Spain.

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