Serbian Regional Party Backs Catalonia Independence Vote

Bojan Kostres, the vice president of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, LSV, said that citizens of Catalonia and the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina both have the right to decide on their own fate.

Kostres said that his party supports Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia), which advocates independence for Catalonia, and the controversial referendum on Sunday. 

"We think it is much better for democracy in Europe and for democracy in Spain, in particular, that Spain accepts the differences that exist between Spain and Catalonia, and to listens to the will of the citizens of Catalonia," Kostres told BIRN.

The Catalan government plans to hold the referendum on independence in defiance of a ban by the Constitutional Court and opposition from the Spanish government. 

Kostres argued that it is up to the citizens of Catalonia to decide whether the region should be independent or remain part of Spain.

"But Spain must not prevent the citizens of Catalonia from expressing themselves in a democratic way," he added.

The LSV is a Serbian regional party which advocates the decentralisation of the country and wants more autonomy for Vojvodina. 

The head of the LSV, Nenad Canak, also sent a message of support for Sunday's Catalan referendum on Twitter.

Volja Katalonaca se neće slomiti. Ni silom ni bilo čime drugim. Podrška.https://t.co/i7LW6DpLTX

— Nenad Čanak (@XXLTulip) September 20, 2017

"The will of the Catalans will not be broken. Not with force or anything else. Support," he wrote.

Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya is a member of the European Free Alliance, EFA, which brings together regionalist political parties in...