Merkel defends the territorial integrity of Spain against the separatism

USPA NEWS - German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Tuesday defended the territorial unity of Spain against the Catalan separatist challenge and supported the Government of Mariano Rajoy in their struggle for the law.

On the second day of the informal meeting between the heads of Government of Germany and Spain, held in Berlin, German Chancellor defended the respect for the law that guarantees the sovereignty and territorial integrity of each State of the European Union. Asked by the Catalan sovereignty challenge, during the joint press conference that offered the two leaders, Merkel said regarding separatism "there is no difference" between his position and that of the Spanish Government.

In the same meeting with the press, Rajoy insisted that "as long as Prime Minister of Spain, the law will be respected" and assured that "Spain is not going to break as some want". The Catalan authorities have spent months taking steps toward a unilateral declaration of independence to become effective if in regional elections next September 27 get a clear endorsement of citizenship. Faced with this stance, the Government of Mariano Rajoy is adamant in his defense of the law and of the unity of Spain enshrined in the Spanish Constitution in force.

Amid the sovereignty debate in recent days it has known the existence of an alleged plot involving corrupt leaders of Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, the party of regional president Artur Mas and one of the two formations -the other is Esquerra Republicana de Catalonia (ERC)- driving the independence process. Asked about this issue and the influence that corruption may have on the election results sovereignism, Rajoy said that he can not predict but recalled that his party, the PP, corruption "has taken its toll."

The Spanish Government considers "unfair" that the Catalans were forced to stop being Spanish and European. Under this theme, the Popular Party (PP) presented on Tuesday at the Parliament an initiative to provide the Constitutional Court sanctioning capacity when their sentences are breached. In the opinion of the PP candidate in the Catalan regional elections on 27 September, the initiative is "the guarantee that no one can violate the decisions of the Constitutional Court and is a very clear message to those who want to break Spain".