Catalan Foreign minister guarantees Court of Auditors will not condition her work: "I'm not afraid"

BarcelonaNext Tuesday 41 accused by the Court of Auditors will rule on an expected multi-million bail for former Generalitat officials linked to its foreign action. The current Catalan minister for Foreign Action is Victòria Alsina. She is not affected by the investigation, which focuses on the period 2011-2017, but has assured that this case will not condition her work. For her, the open case seeks to "scare" the current senior officials who do work in this, but she has guaranteed that it will not succeed. "I am not afraid, because I believe that this is what is sought," he said in an interview with ACN.

The case has raised numerous criticisms on the part of the pro-independence movement, which sees it as irregular from head to toe. In this line, Alsina believes that the court's action of the court is "more flagrant" than in others related to the Independence bid, since, unlike in the November 9, 2014 and the October 1, 2017 Referendums, "there is no sentence of the Constitutional Court that prohibits foreign action". The bail faced by each of the accused, according to her, may be "disproportionate" and the charges make no sense because the Generalitat, which would be affected by the alleged embezzlement, "is not being harmed". The councillor also believes there is legal defencelessness, since those investigated will have to face a multi-million bail -possibly up to €5.4m, the highest in all the cases against the Independence bid- before even being judged and the sentence could take years to come. "They are looking for the civil death and the economic ruin of people and families who have worked in external action", she concluded

One of the most controversial issues generated by the Court of Auditors' investigation is that it suggests that the Generalitat could have embezzled money in its trips abroad for the mere fact of having made public statements in favour of the Independence bid, self-determination or, in general, political issues such as these. For the councillor, this position of the administrative body is completely incomprehensible and "violates freedom of expression". In addition, she also recalled that the fact that one of those investigated in this case is the former Catalan Minister of Economy Andreu Mas-Colell has generated expressions of support among prestigious economists from all over the world.

Continuity of Diplocat

The report of the Court of Auditors that gives rise to the investigation also highlights the €5.4m the Diplocat, the Catalan diplomacy service, spent in the investigated period, between 2011 and 2017. It specifically points to secretary general of the time, Albert Royo. In this sense, Alsina has also assured that the public-private consortium of public diplomacy does not have to suffer for its continuity. According to the minister, it should continue carrying out activities such as "creating international dialogues and exchange of good practices" without any problems. The "promotion of Catalonia abroad and the connection between Catalonia and the world" are also and will continue to be other priorities of Diplocat, she concluded.