An important move by the Spanish government to redirect relations with Junts. Germany and Spain agreed this Friday to a "dialogue" to make Catalan official in the European Union. In the midst of the crisis with the pro-independence party, the executives of both countries are working together to find a "response" to Spain's request to recognize the co-official languages in the State: Catalan, Basque, and Galician. In a joint statement, written in English, German and Spanish, they assert that the "incorporation of these languages constitutes an essential part of Spain's multilingual national identity" and add that for this reason they have decided to "initiate bilateral conversations after which Spain will present a text for debate and decision by the 27 member states at a future meeting of the Consell de In addition, they commit to starting "as soon as possible", with the talks being led by the respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs. That is, they do not commit to any specific timetable, but they do commit to moving quickly to reach an agreement.

The Sánchez-Merz meeting last night In Moncloa it was exactly like this We explained to you yesterday In the morning, in this analysis:

Never before has the issue of Catalan's official status in Europe been raised to the point of forcing the majority of foreign ministries to pronounce one way or another. The final result may be disappointing and indicates the extent of a long and difficult struggle. But on the other hand, it also clarifies things and clearly outlines the starting point. At the meeting of the General Council for European Affairs, the official status of Catalan, Basque, and Galician was discussed, and eight states were in favor and eight were reluctant. Therefore, not having secured the necessary unanimous vote in favor, Spain withdrew the proposal until future meetings.

Let's not fool ourselves. Achieving official status for Catalan in the European Union is no easy task, as it is an issue that raises many concerns in other countries, and the decision must be made unanimously. The Spanish government, in order to fulfill the commitments signed with Junts, intends for the European Union's General Affairs Council to vote on the matter this Tuesday after a diplomatic offensive aimed at overcoming the reluctance of the most hesitant countries, such as the Baltic countries, where there is a significant Russian-speaking minority that could demand the same.