Catalan former prime minister wants conversation with Rajoy

brussels - Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont 'is ready' to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. A meeting can take place in Brussels or elsewhere, but not in Spain as long as Madrid does not guarantee that it will not be arrested.

He said this in Brussels, where he has been staying since the end of October. The former Prime Minister of Catalonia, attached to the separatist party Junts per Catalunya, with four of his ministers left for Belgium after Madrid had deposed his government because of its role in proclaiming Catalan independence. It is time to repair the damage that has occurred as a result, according to Puigdemont.

His party became the second largest in the Catalan elections on Thursday. The Madrid-minded Ciutadans became the largest but the three parties striving for independence gained together a narrow majority with seventy seats in the 135-seat Catalan parliament.