Lessons from Spain and Italy

A potential way forward for a renewed Southern independence movement:  A call for greater autonomy (for the South as a whole or for each State on her own) before a call for secession.  This seems to be working well in Northern Italy:

Mr. Kofman, how does Donbass see the events in Catalonia and in Northern Italy where referendums took place?

Unfortunately, I can say already now that Catalonia’s attempt at becoming independent has failed totally. Although I am pretty sure that this is a temporary victory for Spain and that in the near future students will study Barcelona as the capital of a sovereign state. But for now it seems that these times haven’t yet arrived, as mass rallies in support of a united Spain support this notion.

In my opinion, the difference between the situation in Catalonia and Northern Italy is that Catalans, instead of holding a referendum on extending regional authorities’ rights, tried straight away to gain independence. In fact, it happened to be the same as in Donbass in 2014.

We demanded federalization that contradicted neither the Constitution, nor international law. Nevertheless, Ukraine preferred to start a punitive operation against its own citizens [2 May in Odessa; 9 May in Mariupol] with the help of illegal nationalist battalions. This step provoked the Donbass people whose patience were tested beyond the limit and that resulted in a referendum on independence.

I would also like to mention that, unlike Catalans who had displayed a more than detached position towards Donbass, representatives of Northern Italy supported us in every possible way. There were a lot of delegations from this region who came to Donbass to express their support and to join our campaign in sharing true and objective information about what was really going on in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Taking into consideration the procedure of holding referendums in Veneto and Lombardia, I can confidently say that our consultations with political representatives of these regions left an impression. I remember very well how I was trying to prove to our Italian guests that fighting for independence needs a gradual, slow approach, using federalization as a first move.

So, considering the pretty calm reaction of “big” Italy to the proposed referendums and the absence of punitive measures against these regions, I foresee a measure of success regarding their claims for federalization, firstly in economic terms. Thus, Veneto and Lombardia will become richer, more successful and developed and that will inevitably lead to rallies firstly for federalization and then sovereignty in Europe.

 . . .

Source:  Manuel Ochsenreiter, http://freewestmedia.com/2017/11/06/catalonias-attempt-at-becoming-independent-failed-totally/, opened 14 Nov. 2017

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Holy Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!

Anathema to the Union!