20/11/2017 (Agence Europe) – In an interview with Spanish newspaper, El Pais, published on Sunday 19 November, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, repeated his support for Mariano Rajoy in the Catalan crisis. He highlighted the friendship he continued to maintain with the Spanish Prime Minister, who is also from his own political family and said that he was on the side of those respecting the law. He stated that the European Union was based on the primacy of law and that, “What my Catalan friends are doing, is to contrary: they are breaking the law”. Above all, he clearly refused any form of mediation by the Commission in the Catalan affair and emphasised that he had not had any contact with the former President of the Catalan region, Carles Puigdemont. Mr Junker said that the new elections in Catalonia organised by Madrid for 21 December should allow for a return to “normality”. To see the complete interview: http://bit.ly/2zWQpkZ. (PH & LT)