Bosch inaugurated the two-days meeting emphasising the continuity of the deployment of the Catalan foreign action. “We have the obligation to take on our responsibilities until the end,” he said. 

The minister asked the Government delegates abroad not to cease explaining what is going on in Catalonia in their countries. “You are the representatives of Catalonia’s government and you are in charge of transmitting its position,” he recalled. In this sense, he emphasised that “our work is based on human rights and democracy, it is a common vision the country has”, stressing that “our way is the European way.” 

Alfred Bosch also insisted on the importance of pointing out the value of the negotiation table, as “dialogue and a political solution is the only way out of this conflict”, which is why “it is important that all international stakeholders tell this to Pedro Sánchez.” 

Increase in the budget for the Government Delegations

The Catalan Minister for Foreign Action, Institutional Relations and Transparency also referred to the budget just passed by the Catalan Government for this 2020, a budget he qualified as “essential for the country.” According to Bosch, the share earmarked for the Delegations increases from 6.5 to 7.5 million euros, which helps to expand the Government’s foreign action.

Fifteen operative offices around the world

All fifteen Government representatives abroad participate in the meeting in Brussels, including David Poudevida, Lleïr Daban and Ahmed Benallal, the delegates in Argentina, Mexico and Tunisia, who are fully exercising their functions after their temporary suspension. The Catalan FA Minister celebrates that Catalonia now has fifteen delegations abroad, which is “more than ever.”

In the past month, most of the Delegations have suffered judicial offensives from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this sense, Bosch emphasised that in all the cases everyone has “acted intelligently” and the situation has finally been resolved positively in favour of the Delegations. “Here we are and we continue working because this is the best way to defend the country against the repression by the Spanish State powers,” Boschconcluded.    

The Catalan Ministry for Foreign Action regularly celebrates this type of meetings with the Government representatives abroad. This time, besides the FA Minister, other members of the Ministry participated such as the Secretary-General, Aleix Villatoro; the Secretary for Foreign Action and the European Union, Mireia Borrell Porta; the General-Director for European and Mediterranean Affairs, Alfonso González Bondia; the General-Director for Global Affairs Elisabet Nebreda; the General Director for Strategic Analysis and Planning, Oriol Duran; and the fifteen Government representatives abroad: the representative of the Government of Catalonia to the EU, Meritxell Serret; the Government representative to UK and Ireland, Sergi Marcén; he Government representative to Germany, Marie Kapretz; The Government representative to the USA and Canada, Isidre Sala; the Government representative to Italy, Luca Bellizzi; the Government representative to Switzerland, Manuel Manonelles; the Government representative to France, Daniel Camós; the Government representative to the Balkans, Eric Hauck; the Government representative to the Baltics, Ewa Adela Cylwik; the Government representative to Central Europe, Krystyna Schreiber; the Government representative to the Nordic Countries, Francesca Guardiola; the Government representative to Portugal, Rui Reis; the Government representative to Argentina, David Poudevida; the Government representative to Mexico, Lleïr Daban; and the Government representative to Tunisia, Ahmed Benallal.