Catalan leader sets tough conditions for talks on Spain's new PM

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont addresses a press conference in Brussels, Belgium September 5, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman

BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) - The exiled former leader of Catalonia on Tuesday said that all judicial cases targeting Catalan separatism must be dropped as a condition for his party to negotiate the support of its lawmakers for a new Spanish prime minister in parliament.

Speaking in Brussels, Puigdemont, who is a fugitive from Spanish justice, said any support from his party would require significant concessions from acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists or Spaniards will have to go to the polls once again.