Belgium will not extradite Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain after a judge on Thursday suspended the arrest warrant against him and fellow pro-independence politician Antoni Comin.

"Belgian justice recognizes our immunity and decides to suspend the arrest and extradition warrant!" Puigdemont wrote on Twitter.

His lawyer, Simon Bekaert, said that the judge also decided to "withdraw any conditions" on the two politicians' freedom.

"He decided that as long as the European Parliament has not waived their immunity, the legal proceedings regarding their extradition can not go on," Bekaert told news agency dpa.

Spanish authorities have charged the two politicians with rebellion and sedition over their role in the 2017 independence referendum in Catalonia, which Madrid ruled illegal.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities A Roman province The Romans had several provinces with Hispania in their names on the Iberian Peninsula. Modern Spain also encompasses such wide cultural diversity that the Spanish themselves speak of Las Espanas (The Spains). The country in its present form was never united under a single ruler until after the 1702-14 War of the Spanish Succession.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities A nation of regions Spanish nationalism is strong in many regions, with former kingdoms such as Aragon largely content to be recognized as part of the Spanish nation-state. Asturias has its own language, but takes pride in its role as the birthplace of the Reconquista, or the taking back of Iberia from the Moors. Spanish nationalism was evident in recent years in Madrid in response to Catalonia's referendum.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities Bloodied fingers Catalonia has long battled for independence. Its flag, the Senyera, is very similar to that of Aragon, to which it once belonged. The design is fabled to represent four bloodied fingers of Count Wilfred the Hairy being passed over a gold shield. Catalans were fairly happy with their situation until a court struck down the region's statute of autonomy in 2006 and support for independence grew.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities No great appetite Valencianismo, or Valencian nationalism, sprang out of the Renaixenca, an early-19th-century rebirth of the Catalan language, of which Valencian is just one variant. However, nationalist sentiment is not widespread in the region, which is home to Spain's Tomatina tomato-throwing festival. The Valencian Nationalist Bloc usually gets about 4 percent of the vote for the autonomous parliament.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities Other Catalan territories The Balearic Islands — Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Formentera — all speak variants of Catalan. Though there is a greater nationalist feeling on the islands than in Valencia, it is still more subdued than in Catalonia. Meanwhile, La Franja, a strip of Catalan-speaking land in Aragon, was split by the independence referendum, though most residents do not advocate self-determination for themselves.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities The Basque Country Because of terror attacks by the ETA militant group, Basque separatists used to make the headlines far more often than Catalonia's independence movement. Separatists consider the Basque Country in France and Spain and the region of Navarre to be one nation. About a third of people want full independence, but most want more autonomy. A referendum proposed in 2008 was ruled illegal.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities The Galician cause Although it was the birthplace of the centralist dictator Francisco Franco, Galicia has the strongest tradition of separatism after Catalonia and the Basque Country. Even Spain's mainstream national parties display a streak of Galicianism in the region. Perhaps as a result, starkly nationalist parties receive a lower share of the regional vote.

Catalans, Galicians, Basques and more: Spain's many nationalities From caliphate to community The Arabic name al-Andalus originally refers to the areas of the Iberian Peninsula that were under Moorish rule for 760 years. As Christians reconquered territories, the area known as Andalusia shrank southwards. Most Andalusians voted for autonomy after Franco died in 1975, but there is little appetite for full independence. Author: Richard Connor



Immunity as MEPs

Puigdemont and other exiled pro-independence politicians were elected members of the European Parliament in May last year.

Last month, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that as European lawmakers, the Catalan politicians have the right to immunity from prosecution. That immunity can be removed, however, if Spain requests it and if other MEPs agree.

Puigdemont and Comin have not yet been allowed to take their seats in the European Parliament — but it remains to be seen whether Thursday's decision will permit them to do so.

A third pro-independence politician, former regional vice-president Oriol Junqueras, was also elected as an MEP but is been serving a 13-year prison term in Spain for his role in the referendum. The European Union's top court also ruled that he should be allowed to take his seat and be granted immunity from prosecution.

Puigdemont served as the regional president of Catalonia from January 2016 and October 2017. He later fled Spain after trying to declare independence based on the results of the banned referendum. He and other pro-independence politicians fled to Belgium, where they have been living in exile since.

Besides Junqueras, 11 other pro-independence lawmakers were found guilty of sedition and eight of them also received prison sentences.

rs/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)

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