‘Mas accepts dialogue but refuses to postpone referendum’

Published on 16 September 2013 at 11:01

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The Catalan regional government is keeping up its independence "challenge", remarks El País. On September 15, its spokesman declared that a referendum on the independence of the region would be organised in 2014.

A day earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy wrote to the Catalan President Artur Mas to propose a "dialogue without deadlines," within the framework defined by law, in response to his demand expressed in a letter last July to organise a referendum.

For the daily

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… the solution to the vexed question [of Catalonia] — one that is appropriate for a democracy — can only be found by politicians engaging in political dialogue. Fortunately, the exchange of letters between Rajoy and Mas has made this obvious step the official option, even if it has come late and against a background of mutual mistrust that is impossible to hide.

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