A sea of around 45,000 pro-Catalonia protesters demonstrated in Brussels on Thursday to show support for the region’s deposed president Carles Puigdemont and urge the European Union to support its drive for independence from Spain. Demonstrators chanted “Wake up Europe!” and waved Catalonia’s red, yellow and blue Estelada separatist flag as they marched past the European Union headquarters in the Belgian capital. “We cannot abandon our president, who is in exile here,” Antoni Llenas, 59, a protester wearing a flag over his shoulders, told AFP. Their route is taking them past the headquarters of the European Commission and they will end up in a square between the European Council and European Parliament. The EU has strongly backed the Spanish government over the Catalan issue, saying that it is an internal matter for Madrid.

Source: Pakistan Today December 07, 2017 13:18 UTC