Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

Spain postpones its EuroMed summit as PM still has Covid

A summit grouping nine southern European countries that was due to take place in Alicante on Friday has been postponed because Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has continued to test positive for Covid-19, his office said Thursday.

Published: 29 September 2022 15:32 CEST
SPAIN-SANCHEZ-COVID
Sánchez tested positive several days after flying back from the UN General Assembly in New York. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)

The EuroMed 9, which groups Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, was to have gathered in the southeastern city of Alicante on September 30th.

Sánchez, who was to host the summit, had on Sunday confirmed having Covid, and by Thursday he was still testing positive, his office said.

“This morning, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took a diagnostic test and was still positive for Covid-19,” it said.

“As a precaution, the decision has been taken to postpone the MED-9 summit which was going to be held in Alicante tomorrow.”

It did not give a new date for the summit.

Sánchez tested positive several days after flying back from the UN General Assembly in New York.

He has since suspended much of his agenda but has continued attending events online.

Nine heads of state and government had been due to attend Friday’s summit, among them French President Emmanuel Macron and outgoing Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU council President Charles Michel were also due to attend for a summit focused on the energy crisis facing Europe as a result of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The EuroMed group was created in 2016 to strengthen the cooperation between Mediterranean and southern EU member states.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Catalan separatist leader handed amnesty lifeline by Spanish prosecutors

Spain's public prosecution on Friday said it would appeal a Supreme Court decision not to grant amnesty to Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on a misuse of public funds charge.

Published: 5 July 2024 14:10 CEST
Catalan separatist leader handed amnesty lifeline by Spanish prosecutors

“The public prosecutor disagrees with the interpretation” of the judge who on Monday refused amnesty for Puigdemont, who has been living in exile in Belgium after fleeing Spain to avoid prosecution over the botched 2017 Catalan independence bid.

In the decision, judge Pablo Llarena said the newly-minted amnesty law for Catalan separatists could not be applied in Puigdemont’s case because it fell into the category of two exceptions: where the money taken was used for personal gain and where it involved European Union funds.

The public prosecutor’s office said it would also ask that the detention orders against Puigdemont and others also be lifted, as required by the law.

The Supreme Court move came just over a month after MPs passed an amnesty law aimed at drawing a line under years of efforts to prosecute those involved in the botched secession bid that triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.

Blocking the amnesty for Puigdemont could complicate life for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who in November offered the amnesty in exchange for the crucial parliamentary support of Catalan parties to secure a new term in office.

After parliament passed the amnesty law on May 30th, judges were given two months to apply the legislation by annulling the charges and cancelling any arrest warrants against the separatists.

But with the legislation being applied on a case-by-case basis, it looks set to be a long and drawn-out process.

Last year, the Supreme Court dropped the sedition charges against Puigdemont and two others following a controversial criminal code reform.

But prosecutors filed fresh charges against them for misuse of public funds and disobedience in connection with the independence bid.

Although both charges fall under the scope of the new law, there were two exceptions for misappropriation of public funds — both of which have been applied in Puigdemont’s case.

SHOW COMMENTS