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A8 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 16 September 2017

Madrid tightens grip over Catalan spending to quash vote

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s extraordinary controls were lona as its major city — are
central authorities have justified in order to pay civil still pressing ahead with
increased their control servants and suppliers pro- the referendum despite
over Catalonia’s regional curing services in educa- the ban and despite the
spending to make sure that tion and health, among launch of a criminal inves-
no funds are diverted to other essentials, while at the tigation into three-quarters
paying for a suspended in- same time ensuring finan- of Catalonia’s mayors who
dependence referendum, cial stability and defending have supported the vote.
the country’s finance min- the country’s legal order. On Thursday, Catalan Vice
ister said Friday.Following Last week, Spain’s consti- President Oriol Junqueras,
the weekly meeting of the tutional court decided to who is in charge of eco-
Spanish cabinet, Cristobal suspend an independence nomic affairs in the north-
Montoro said the govern- referendum that Catalan eastern region, said he
ment is also giving Catalan leaders had penciled in for would stop providing cen-
officials 48 hours to com- Oct. 1 while judges decide tral authorities with weekly
ply with a new system that if it is unconstitutional, as spending reports.Making
scrutinizes public payments the central government in these reports weekly in-
in order “to guarantee that Madrid has argued. stead of monthly, as Spain
not one euro will go toward Separatist politicians in requires of all 17 regional
financing illegal acts.” Catalonia — Spain’s rich- governments, had been a Catalan President Carles Puigdemont arrives to an event pro-
Montoro told reporters the est region that has Barce- measure imposed in July moting the start of the campaigning for the ballot in Tarragona,
about 100 kilometres south of Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Sept.
14, 2017. Spain’s authorities have increased their control over
Catalonia’s regional spending.
(AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
by Spain’s finance authori- ernment has also rejected
ties as preparations for the calls for dialogue from Cat-
referendum escalated. alonia’s leading officials
Junqueras dismissed the on framing a referendum
scrutiny as politically moti- because that can only be
vated and said the Cata- achieved by changing
lan government would only the country’s constitution
send the monthly reports. through a majority in the
The Madrid-based gov- national parliament. q

EU official urges Serbia to move
toward membership in the bloc

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Berlin Wall and the Iron Cur-
The European Union’s en- tain was the beginning of
largement commissioner the reunification of Europe.
urged Serbia and its neigh- “But this process, which
bors on Friday to stay on began in 1989, will only be
course toward member- complete with the acces-
ship in the 28-nation bloc sion of all the six countries
amid Russia’s attempts to of Western Balkans to the
maintain influence in the European Union,” Hahn
Balkan region. said.
“For too long, Serbia and Serbia is deeply split be-
the so-called Western Bal- tween those seeking EU
kans have been seen as membership and those
the backyard of Europe,” wanting a close alliance
Johannes Hahn said. “To- with traditional ally Russia,
day, people see that this which considers the region
region is already an en- its traditional sphere of inter-
clave in the EU, with the le- est. Moscow has increased
gitimate right to join.” its political and propa-
He said in a speech at an ganda efforts to keep the
EU-Serbia conference in Balkan countries out of the
Belgrade that the fall of the Western integrations.q