Belgium’s Flanders premier urges EU to mediate in Catalonia dispute

The premier of Belgium’s Flanders region has denounced Spanish authorities for arresting separatist Catalan officials and urged the EU to mediate in the dispute. The Flanders region has itself seen separatist friction in the past. “Locking up democratically elected leaders is more than a bridge too far,” Flanders Premier Geert Bourgeois said on Friday. “I’m perplexed that something like that is possible in today’s Europe,” he added, according to Reuters. The European Commission has reiterated that it fully respects Spain’s internal political and judicial order.