MOSCOW, November 10 (Sputnik) — UK Prime Minister David Cameron expressed hope Monday that Catalonia would not strike out on its own and Spain would stay united.
"We [the UK] are great lovers of Spain, we want Spain to stay united, to stay together," the prime minister said at a news conference.
Cameron added that he had never told the people of Spain how to cope with problems, stressing that it is the role of the Spanish government and the Spanish prime minister.
"I would say to my friend [Spanish Prime Minister] Mariano Rajoy and to everyone in Spain: Britain is a great ally of Spain; we work very very closely together with you in so many important forums, whether it's the EU or NATO," Cameron said.
Cameron's speech came amid Catalan pro-independence forces, calling for a vote on the region's separation from Spain, following the Scottish independence referendum on September 18, 2014. The UK Prime minister, however, said that such processes require proper legal basis.
"Our belief about referendums and things like that is these things should be done through the proper consultation and legal frameworks. They should be done within them and not outside them," Cameron said.
On November 9, 2014, Catalan authorities held a non-binding poll on the issue of independence from Spain. Two questions were posed during the survey: "Do you want Catalonia to become a state?" and "If yes, do you wand Catalonia to become an independent state?". A total of 2,3 out of 5,4 million residents in Catalonia eligible to vote took part in the poll. More than 80 percent of them chose said "yes" to independence.
