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Catalonia a unique case

The Catalan sovereignty process has no precedents anywhere

Some similarities can be found in certain cases such as the republics that emerged out of Yugoslavia

Catalonia stands at the crossroads of history, where many other –now independent– states have stood before. It is a good time to see how those cases were resolved, particularly the most recent, in eastern Europe. It is at times like these that Catalonia's forerunners who achieved independence take on a particular interest. Were plebiscite elections part of the process? Did sovereignty parties stand together? Was there always a referendum?

The truth is that there have been a whole range of scenarios, but if there is one thing the experts agree on, it is that there is no direct equivalent to the case of Catalonia. “There is very little to get a hold on, the path Catalonia is taking is unique; it is difficult to find previous examples,” says David Forniés of Ciemen, the Catalan organisation that promotes the study of nations without a state. “I have studied four cases, and it is obvious that there is not one like the Catalan one. In three of them there was no history of political parties,” agrees journalist now government delegate in Paris, Martí Anglada, who is also the author of the book “Quatre vies per a la independència”, which analyses Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia. “The USSR and Yugoslavia were both states in a process of dissolving, and Spain is not; the situation is very different,” adds Forniés.

Moreover, in these cases, the countries in question emerged from dictatorships, while Catalonia comes from a democratic tradition. Quebec and Scotland, which most closely resemble the situation of Catalonia, especially if the Spanish government were to allow a negotiated referendum, ended up rejecting the option of statehood. As for the rest, the cases in which independence was achieved in the 20th century were all linked to a process of decolonisation, in Africa or the Caribbean

Let us look at how one case was resolved:

Slovenia is possibly the most similar to Catalonia. The former Yugoslav republic held its first free elections in April 1990, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The elections became a plebiscite when they led to the forming of a new state. Six parties joined together under the same political umbrella, but stood separately, similar to what ERC proposes. In 1989, the constitution had been amended to allow unilateral secession, which played into the general atmosphere in favour of independence. The coalition government that followed adopted a declaration of sovereignty (as did the Catalan parliament in 2013) and, in December, a referendum took place, winning with 90% of the votes. Despite the international community insisting it would not recognise the republic, the government made a unilateral declaration of independence on June 25, 1991. Though Yugoslavia reacted with force, there was little conflict. Within weeks a multilateral agreement had been struck and international recognition followed in three months.

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