public diplomacy

Spain’s promises of dialogue have had “zero” impact at international level, DIPLOCAT says

December 20, 2016 03:17 PM | ACN

Spain’s so-called ‘dialogue operation’ with Catalonia has had “zero” impact at international level. This statement was made this Tuesday by the Secretary General of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat), Albert Royo, during the conference ‘Catalan Public Diplomacy in a changing world’. The talk was organised by the Federation of Internationally Recognized Catalan Organisations (FOCIR, going by its Catalan initials). According to Royo, what is transcending abroad is the “persecution of 400 Catalan elected officials being carried out by Spain”. “Until now the dialogue operation has not materialised and been translated into concrete facts, we neither see it in Catalonia nor abroad”, he added. Furthermore, he warned that with the dialogue promises Spain is “paving the way to legitimate future coercive measures [against Catalonia] at international level”.

DIPLOCAT to observe parliamentary elections in Macedonia

December 9, 2016 02:44 PM | ACN

The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat) has been invited by the Electoral Commission of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to observe the early parliamentary elections that will take place on Sunday. A team of eleven observers trained in international electoral observation, who are currently following the final days of the election campaign and the preparations for the vote in the regions of Skopje, the Northeast, the Southwest, and Pegalonia. On Sunday they will observe the actual vote itself, the vote count, the compiling of the results, and the final announcement of the results. This is not the first time that Catalonia’s Public Diplomacy Council sends an observation mission to another country; recently, in October, they travelled to Morocco and so far they have also been present at elections in Uruguay, Costa Rica and Armenia.

Catalonia's push for independence should be regarded as a "peaceful and democratic" example

December 10, 2015 07:24 PM | ACN / Sara Prim

International experts from different fields debated on independence processes in the EU at the conference "Self-determination Processes: Challenge or Opportunity for the EU?" organised by the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (DIPLOCAT) and the Centre for European Studies of Jagiellonian University in Krakow. According to DIPLOCAT's Secretary General, Albert Royo, the Catalan process is a "unique opportunity for the EU" to show that a "territorial conflict could be solved in a peaceful and democratic way". Professor of History at Pompeu Fabra University Fernando Guirao added that it would be “absurd” to talk about an automatic expulsion from the EU and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe Michal Natorski noted that "all secession processes are negotiated and finally accepted if they come to terms in a democratic way". Delegate of the Government of Catalonia to Austria, Adam Casals, also attended the conference.