Mediaboss Marketing

Where Brussels and many European capitals have remained silent, others have not. Belgiums prime minister, Charles Michel, who governs in coalition with Flemish separatists, as well as the head of the European Parliaments socialist parties, have both condemned the police action and called on Madrid to start a dialogue with the separatists.

Violence can never be the answer! Mr. Michel said on Twitter. His Slovenian counterpart, Miro Cerar, also said he was concerned and called for political dialogue, rule of law and peaceful solutions.

The European Parliament has also been solidly on the side of Spain. The Parliament is led by the European Peoples Party, the center-right bloc to which Mr. Rajoy, Mr. Juncker and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany all belong.

Antonio Tajani, the Parliaments conservative president, told a Catalan newspaper last week that to ignore Spains constitution was to undermine the legal basis for the whole European Union. Those are the rules, he said.

The Parliaments center-left group also supports respecting the Spanish Constitution.

Still, Mr. Rajoys inept handling of the referendum will have a lasting impact, even if both sides eventually calm down and turn to further talks about enhanced Catalan autonomy.

As Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, said on Twitter, whatever the rights and wrongs, the Spanish government has lost the international PR battle through heavy-handed behavior.

Original post:
For E.U., Catalonia Pits Democratic Rights Against ...