SophieCo
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Russia wouldn’t endanger spy swap system with West by attacking Skripal - ex-Soviet mole in CIA
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Israelis and Palestinians alone will find solution, not let others do it – 20th IDF head
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‘Putin is a long-distance runner in politics’ – German journalist Hubert Seipel
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‘Japan should leave US nuclear umbrella’ - Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki discusses the nuclear deterrence
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‘Football beyond politics - shame some politicians don’t get that’ - Russia 2018 World Cup Chief on attempts to undermine the tournament
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‘Cowards fighting cowards behind computer screens’ – ex-drone operator Brandon Bryant on US drone strikes.
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‘US taking other nations hostage over Iran sanctions' – Ex EU-Commissioner Guenter Verheugen
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Spanish ex-Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos talks on Catalonia's bid for independence & future of the EU
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Former Italian PM Matteo Renzi talks on populists rise in Europe, referendum defeat and migrant crisis
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‘George Soros would like to invite millions of migrants to Europe’ – Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
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‘Breaking up with the US won’t hurt Pakistan’ – ex-Pakistan PM Shaukat Aziz
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‘The UK shouldn’t pretend it is a superpower’ – Lord Peter Truscott
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‘Dangerous for US experts to be too sympathetic to Russia’ – ex-US Defense Department analyst
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‘Secure and stable Africa is in very few people’s interests’ – Eeben Barlow, the mercenary leader
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‘American unilateralism challenges transatlantic relations’ – ex-French PM
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‘No gentlemen in football when the World Cup is at stake’ - Christian Karembeu
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‘Cybercrime is bigger than arms & drugs’ – cybercrime fighter
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Fmr. Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on the impact of Arab Spring
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‘Basically, we didn’t lose anything’ - Billionaire Arkady Rotenberg, Putin’s closest friend, on Western sanctions.
Spanish ex-Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos talks on Catalonia's bid for independence & future of the EU
Former foreign minister of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos joins SophieCo to weigh in on the Catalonia’s future, its independence aspirations and the future of the EU.
“Catalonia is Spain. It will always be Spain,” Moratinos says. Since Puigdemont unilaterally declared independence following the October 2017 referendum, the region has been deprived of its autonomy and put under Madrid’s direct rule.
Giving autonomy back is one of the options to the Catalan crisis, according to Moratinos. “The question is if we can improve the autonomy,” he says, noting that it needs to be done “in accordance with the constitutional order of Spain.”
European governments also made it clear they didn’t welcome Catalonia’s breakaway. “Members of the European Union are not going to recognize Catalonia,” Moratinos says, adding, “there will be no possibility for Catalonia as a national state to integrate with EU institutions.”
The ex-minister also touched upon the future of European integration. “We cannot continue with this enlargement process as there’s no clear objective of what kind of Europe we’re looking for,” Moratinos claims. Either it’s “a large area of free trade” or “a strong, integrated supranational Europe.” As for the rise of Euroscepticism across the bloc, Moratinos says the message that “Europe is dead” is wrong. “If we were so bad, nobody would knock at our door.”
Check out the full episode of SophieCo with Miguel Angel Moratinos.