A court in Vienna has decided against extraditing Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash from Austria to Spain, saying Madrid had not provided enough proof linking Firtash to alleged crimes, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Madrid believes Russian-based groups used online social media to heavily promote Catalonia’s independence referendum last month in an attempt to destabilize Spain, Spanish ministers said on Monday, Reuters wrote.
The Spanish prosecutors have refused to arrest and extradite to Ukraine a fugitive Ukrainian MP Oleksandr Onyshchenko, according to Ukrayinska Pravda.
Speaking after the weekly Cabinet meeting on Friday, government spokesperson Inigo Mendez de Vigo and Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal confirmed that Russian and Venezuelan hackers have been interfering in the ongoing crisis in Catalonia, and announced that they would be dealing with the issue at the next European Union Foreign Affairs Council meeting, which will take place this Monday, according to El Pais.
Spain's Constitutional Court has officially annulled the Catalan parliament's unilateral declaration of independence, according to The Independent.
Catalonia's deposed leader Carles Puigdemont and four former advisers have turned themselves in to Belgian police, says a prosecutors' spokesman, according to BBC.
Spain's state prosecutor has called for rebellion, sedition and missue of public funds charges to be brought against Catalan's separatist leaders, according to Deutsche Welle.
Spain's control over Catalonia will be tested on Monday when politicians and civil servants return to work amid uncertainty over whether they will accept direct rule imposed by the central government to stop the region's independence bid, according to Reuters.
Ukraine supports the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Spain within internationally recognized borders, according to a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
Soon after the vote at the regional parliament, the Senate – Spain's upper house – made the unprecedented step of approving measures allowing the Spanish government to impose direct rule over Catalonia, according to the BBC.
The Catalan parliament has voted to establish an independent republic in defiance of the Spanish government, which is expected to fire the region's president and impose direct rule within the next few hours, according to The Guardian.
European Council President Donald Tusk has explicitly ruled out any EU action over Catalonia, despite the "concerning" situation, according to BBC.
Spain’s central government threatened on Thursday to suspend Catalonia’s autonomy after the region’s leader said it could go ahead with a formal declaration of independence if Madrid continued its “repression”, Reuters reports.