Spain’s foreign minister stops interview on German TV over Catalonia questions
Josep Borrell accused his interviewer of ignorance and bias and briefly walked away from the set
Spain’s Foreign Minister Josep Borrell briefly interrupted an interview with a German television station after getting upset at the tone of the interviewer’s questions on Catalonia.
The tense half-hour interview between Borrell, of the Socialist Party (PSOE), and a journalist named Tim Sebastian, was aired on Wednesday evening on an English-language program called Conflict Zone, on Germany’s Deutsche Welle station.
After 10 minutes and 50 seconds, Borrell tells his interviewer to stop, and accuses him of ignorance and bias on the issue of the Catalan conflict. Other topics addressed in the interview included Gibraltar and arms sales.
The interview was recorded last week, said a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry. This source added that “it was evident that the journalist was merely echoing theses that were contrary to the government of Spain, no matter what the topic.”
At one point, Borrell asks for the cameras to stop recording, takes off his microphone and walks away from the set. The screen then shows a message informing viewers that after talking with his advisors, the minister decided to finish the interview.