The region of Catalonia’s plans to secede from Spain could lead to “civil war,” the European Union’s budget commissioner Gunther Oettinger said Thursday.
Catalan authorities intend to declare independence from Spain Monday after a violent referendum Sunday. Several banks have threatened to move their headquarters from the region as a uncertainty grows with neither side ready to back down.
“The situation is very, very disturbing. A civil war is planned in the middle of Europe,” Oettinger said during a speech in Munich, according to The Telegraph. “One can only hope that a conversation will be made between Madrid and Barcelona soon.”
Spain’s constitutional court suspended the Catalan parliament’s Monday session to block a declaration of independence. The court ruled the move would be “a breach of the constitution,” but separatists intend to go through with it.
“We know that there may be disbarments, arrests,” pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy lawmaker Mireia Boya said on Twitter. “But we are prepared, and in no case will it be stopped.”
Hundreds of people were reported injured during clashes between police and voters during the referendum.
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