Brussels [Belgium], March 11 (ANI): Carles Puigdemont, former Catalan leader, who is currently in self-exile here, announced on Sunday that he will be contesting in the upcoming European elections that are scheduled for May 26.Puigdemont wrote on Twitter, “It is the moment to make another step to internationalise the self-determination right of Catalonia from Europe's heart to all the world.”He will be the leading candidate of the Junts per Catalunya party.The former Catalonia leader had fled Spain in October 2017 after Madrid imposed direct rule on Catalonia. The rich north-eastern region had unilaterally declared independence on the basis of a referendum which was deemed illegal by the Spanish courts.Prominent leaders of the Catalan independence movement including Jordi Sànchez, Quim Forn, Jordi Turull and Josep Rull-who currently serving prison time for their involvement in the illegal referendum are also contesting the elections.“We're going out to win, as we did on December 21, 2017. We will make our commitment to honest politics — with a return to dialogue, and harmony between peoples and defense of democracy — central to our action. An action that will exercise the right to self-determination of Catalonia,” read the letter posted on the Junst per Catalunya's website. (ANI)

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