08.05.2018 - 13:39
Finnish MP Mikko Kärnä has received over 10,000 postcards, letters, and hand-drawn correspondence from Catalonia and all over the world. All are asking for “solidarity” from Helsinki in Catalonia’s “fight for independence from Spain and respect for basic rights.” According to Kärnä, this wave of correspondence started around three to four weeks ago, after the Nordic politician invited Carles Puigdemont to speak in the Finnish capital.
I receive a lot of cards around the world to support the independence of #Catalonia, but the ones sent by children are by far the most heartwarming. Here are some. Special greetings and thanks to Lucas, 6, from Holland. pic.twitter.com/bAskEnFiIY
— Mikko Kärnä 🇫🇮🇺🇦 (@KarnaMikko) April 23, 2018
“The message is clear: Catalonia wants to be an independent state and wants the respect it deserves from the Spanish state” expressed Kärnä in a statement. The idea, further explained the MP to the Catalan News Agency (ACN), is to ultimately create a work of art with the things sent to him by his “Catalan friends” one that would show to the public the message that Catalans have for Europe. The work will be put together by a Catalan artist living in Finland, although the location and form of the exhibition has yet to be decided
After receiving more than 10,000 letters, Kärnä asks for Helsinki now to act “in a peaceful way, to resolve the situation through negotiation.” “I trust that Finland, at the hands of Foreign Affairs Minister Soini, will work towards EU states be fully committed to fundamental treaties and fundamental values like democracy, human rights, and basic freedoms,” details the statement. According to Kärnä, Spain is not currently defending these values, and he expressed that the situation in Catalonia is “crucial” to the future of the EU.
Silence in Brussels
Regards the reaction of the EU, the MP also said he is “confused” that Brussels try to keep “silent” regards Catalonia, when “even organizations that fight for human rights have condemned Spanish actions, and there are judicial proceedings of the United Nations against Spain.”
While cultivating relations with politics in Catalonia for some time, Mikko Kärnä became more of a household name when he invited Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to speak at an event in Finland. Puigdemont was then living in Belgium claiming that he would not get a fair trial in Spain, but during his trip to the Nordic country a European Arrest warrant was reactivated against him from Madrid. He was apprehended while traveling back to Brussels, in Germany. He is currently awaiting a decision on his extradition order in Berlin.
