Catalan official calls for EU support ahead of referendum
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Catalonia's foreign affairs chief has appealed for support from the European Union before a disputed referendum calling for independence from Spain.
Raul Romeva, speaking to journalists Thursday in Brussels, said that EU institutions need to "understand that this is a big issue." Romeva spoke a day after Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont accused the EU, in an interview with The Associated Press , of "turning its back" on Catalonia in its conflict with Spain's central government.
Romeva accused the Spanish government of a "brutal crackdown" on Catalan officials to try to prevent Sunday's referendum, which Spain considers to be illegal, and that it's "generated an unprecedented level of shock."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said that he doesn't expect violence, because "it's not in the Catalan DNA to use violence to solve political problems."