COPENHAGEN: Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont arrived in Copenhagen on Monday, defying a threat by Madrid to issue a warrant for his arrest if he leaves Belgium, where he has been in exile since a failed independence bid.
Danish broadcaster TV2 released an image on its website of Puigdemont being surrounded by reporters after his plane landed in Copenhagen Airport.
A source in his entourage also confirmed his arrival in the Danish capital.
Puigdemont is to take part in a debate on Catalonia at the University of Copenhagen later Monday.
His trip comes a day after Spain’s prosecution service said it would “immediately” have a supreme court judge issue a warrant for his arrest if he travels to Denmark, and urge Copenhagen to hand him over.
Puigdemont fled to Belgium in late October after Madrid sacked his cabinet over their breakaway attempt, but is eyeing a return to power after pro-independence parties won an absolute majority in regional elections in December.
Spanish Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena had dropped a European arrest warrant for Puigdemont and four of his deputies who fled to Belgium in early December, saying it would complicate the overall probe into the region’s leaders.
At home, however, he risks arrest on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds.
On Monday, the speaker of the Catalan parliament is due to announce his candidacy to become the president of the region.
Puigdemont is the favorite but wants to govern the region from exile in order to avoid arrest if he returns to Spain.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy reiterated Saturday that governing Catalonia from abroad would be “illegal.”
Former Catalan president in Denmark despite Madrid arrest threat
Former Catalan president in Denmark despite Madrid arrest threat
Hegseth vows most intense day yet of US strikes as Iran aims to fight on
- Netanyahu meanwhile said: “We are breaking their bones”
- “No nation takes more precautions to ensure there’s never targeting of civilians,” Hegseth said
WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday will be the most intense day yet of US strikes inside Iran as the Islamic Republic, its firepower diminished, vowed to fight on.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said: “We are breaking their bones” and said the war’s aim is a popular overthrow of Iran’s government.
US President Donald Trump, for his part, has sent contradictory signals about how long the war could last, causing wild swings Monday in financial and fuel markets. The US stock market and oil prices were holding relatively steady Tuesday.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf dismissed any suggestion Tehran has sought a ceasefire. Another top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, appeared to threaten Trump himself, writing on X that “Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”
Hegseth says US is taking the investigation on a school strike ‘very seriously’
Responding to a question shouted by a reporter at a news conference about accountability for the strike, Hegseth said that “we take things very, very seriously and investigate them thoroughly.”
“No nation takes more precautions to ensure there’s never targeting of civilians,” he said, adding that “open source information” shouldn’t be used to determine what happened.
Satellite images, expert analysis, a US official and public information suggest the explosion that killed at least 165 people, mostly children, was likely caused by US airstrikes that also hit an adjacent compound associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Trump erroneously claimed Monday that Iran has access to the American Tomahawk cruise missile, the weapon likely used to strike the school.
