A puzzle-Europe?

“Let’s think of the former Yugoslavia”. In the interview published May 13 on the Catalan daily “La Vanguardia”, Pope Francis, conveying his reflections – answering the paper’s questions – on the theme of independence in certain regions of Europe, spoke in clear terms and expressed a warning that some observers have (purposely) overlooked. “All division worries me. There is independence by emancipation and independence by secession”, Bergoglio said, trading on relatively new grounds for a Pontiff. “The independences of nations by secession is a dismemberment… Let’s think of the former Yugoslavia …”. “Every case is different. Scotland, Padania, Catalunya. Some cases will be just and other cases will not be just”: the secession of a nation without an antecedent of mandatory unity, has to be taken with added caution”. Barcellona versus Madrid. The interview immediately circulated across Europe. And given it’s timeframe, three months before the referendum in Scotland that will decide the country’s independence from London, it triggered a hot debate, political evaluations and autonomist claims. It is not by chance that the theme was raised by “La Vanguardia”. In fact, Catalonia will hold a referendum to decide its independence from Madrid as an independent State on November 9. However, Spain’s constitutional court, ruled such a referendum to be unconstitutional. The process that led to this step was long, with consultative referenda held in several Catalan town Councils, street rallies, and a regional parliamentary vote that split the assembly of Barcelona in two. A large group of parties in the region claims that Catalan citizens would have significant economic advantages by detaching themselves from their homeland. Indeed, Catalonia’s GDP is higher than the national average, but various appeals to Spain’s unity, in terms of its history, culture (excluding language), political and religious, were heard across the Country. Outside the EU. The most adamant supporters of Barcelona’s separation from Madrid had to come to terms with the international consequence of secession. On many occasions the European Union made it clear – for example in a speech by the Vice President of the Commission Viviane Reding – that “with the secession from a Member country a region looses its EU membership status, and must file a request for a new adhesion process”. The Commissioner’s position echoes that of Commission President – who according to Community law is the “guardian of EU Treaties” – José Manuel Barroso, regarding another resounding case: that of Scotland. “In the case of a new State that branches out from a current Member State, the former will have to apply for membership and, very importantly, EU membership will have to be approved by all the other member countries”. “All” means that for Scotland’s future application the United Kingdom will also have to give its consent. In the Catalan case the green light would also have to come from Spain. Oil, scotch e and the Queen. The machine of the Scottish referendum tabled for September 18 is in full speed, as stipulated in a 2012 agreement signed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish Prime Minister Alex Salmond. The public opinion in Edinburgh and in other countries of “Caledonia” is currently divided and surveys fail to identify the outcome of the consultation. Many claim that independent Scotland would be richer (without counting on the fact that London would send a consistent part of the consolidate public debt back to the sender); while many citizens claim that oil deposits and scotch whisky would be insufficient in ensuring the populations’ wellbeing, political weight and security to the region with 5 million inhabitants, tied to London – for the good and for the bad – for over 300 years. Moreover, the outcome of the referendum would not determine exit from the Commonwealth nor does it imply renouncing the resident of Buckingham Palace as Sovereign. True and …supposed situations. While British bookmakers bet on the result of the vote to the north of Hadrian’s Wall, other areas of the old Continent are evaluating the pros and cons of independence requests. The recent referendum that decided Crimea’s separation from Ukraine and unity with Russia marked a watershed, which called into question the borders between European States emerged after the end of the Second World War. There is also the situation of Kosovo vis a vis Serbia; the “powder-keg” of Bosnia-Herzegovina that strives to recover after the 1990s Civil War, following the dismemberment of former Yugoslavia. The continent is starred with other situations, marked by historical processes and identity features, ethnic and/or linguistic diversities: the dispute between the Flanders and Wallon in Belgium, the claims of Northern Ireland, of the Basque Countries… until the case, which until now has had less attention and credibility on a European scale, of the so-called Padania, to the south of the Alps.