BRUSSELS: 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 EU 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. “We are here to continue the struggle for our independence and to ask for the freedom of our political prisoners.”
Belgian police said on Twitter that there were an estimated 45,000 protesters, more than double the 20,000 that organizers said they originally expected. The rally began peacefully, according to AFP reporters on the scene.
Puigdemont and four former ministers fled to Brussels in November, saying they wanted to take their cause to the European level after Spain charged them with sedition and rebellion over Catalonia’s independence referendum in October.
On Monday, the Spanish government dropped a European arrest warrant for the five, but Puigdemont said he would stay put for now as they still face arrest in Spain if they return for regional polls in Catalonia that Madrid has called for Dec. 21.
Protesters arrived in a stream of coaches and camper vans with Spanish registration plates, and gathered in the Cinquantenaire Park in the city’s European quarter before the start of the march at 1030 GMT.
Children and families were among those who began the march in high spirits despite the cold and rain.
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.
Huge Catalan march in Brussels to ‘wake up Europe’
Huge Catalan march in Brussels to ‘wake up Europe’
Bangladesh’s Yunus announces resignation, end of interim govt
- Yunus handed over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader Tarique Rahman
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus stepped down on Monday in a farewell broadcast to the nation before handing over to an elected government.
“Today, the interim government is stepping down,” the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said.
“But let the practice of democracy, freedom of speech, and fundamental rights that has begun not be halted.”
Yunus returned from self-imposed exile in August 2024, days after the iron-fisted government of Sheikh Hasina was overthrown by a student-led uprising and she fled by helicopter to India.
“That was the day of great liberation,” he said. “What a day of joy it was! Bangladeshis across the world shed tears of happiness. The youth of our country freed it from the grip of a demon.”
He has led Bangladesh as its “chief adviser” since, and now hands over power after congratulating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader Tarique Rahman on a “landslide victory” in elections last week.
“The people, voters, political parties, and stakeholder institutions linked to the election have set a commendable example,” Yunus said.
“This election has set a benchmark for future elections.”
Rahman, 60, chief of the BNP and scion of one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, will lead the South Asian nation of 170 million.
‘Rebuilt institutions’
Bangladeshi voters endorsed sweeping democratic reforms in a national referendum, a key pillar of Yunus’s post-uprising transition agenda, on the same day as the elections.
The lengthy document, known as the “July Charter” after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, proposes term limits for prime ministers, the creation of an upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
“We did not start from zero — we started from a deficit,” he said.
“Sweeping away the ruins, we rebuilt institutions and set the course for reforms.”
The referendum noted that approval would make the charter “binding on the parties that win” the election, obliging them to endorse it.
However, several parties raised questions before the vote, and the reforms will still require ratification by the new parliament.
The BNP alliance won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance, according to the Election Commission.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman conceded on Saturday, saying his party would “serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition.”
Newly elected lawmakers are expected to be sworn in on Tuesday, after which Tarique Rahman is set to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister.
Police records show that political clashes during the campaign period killed five people and injured more than 600.
However, despite weeks of turbulence ahead of the polls, voting day passed without major unrest and the country has responded to the results with relative calm.
