France on Monday said that it would not recognise Catalonia if the region unilaterally declares its independence from Spain, Reuters reported. “If there were to be a declaration of independence, it would be unilateral, and it would not be recognised,” French Minister for European Affairs Nathalie Loiseau (pictured above) said.

“Catalonia cannot be defined by the vote organised by the independence movement just over a week ago,” she said. “This crisis needs to be resolved through dialogue at all levels of Spanish politics.”

Loiseau said France would be “fleeing its responsibilities” if it hastily decided to recognise Catalonia’s unilateral declaration of independence. “If independence were to be recognised – which is not something that’s being discussed – the most immediate consequence would be that [Catalonia] automatically left the European Union.”

The conflict

Catalonia, which has its own language and is led by a pro-independence regional government, held a referendum on October 1, defying an order from Spain’s constitutional court that declared the vote illegal. More than 900 people were injured in the violence during voting, as the Spanish Police attempted to block the process.

Catalan authorities said the referendum showed voters overwhelmingly support independence – more than 90% of those who voted supported secession. But the turnout for the referendum was only 43%.

Lakhs of people took to the streets in Catalonia on Sunday, to oppose the proposed declaration of independence from Spain. The local police said at least 3,50,000 people were on the streets, waving the Spanish and Catalan flags and carrying banners saying “Catalonia is Spain” and “Together we are stronger”.