Criticising the European Union's “silence” on the Catalan crisis, he said "we do not ask European institutions to support our movement, but only to respect our human and fundamental rights.”

Puigdemont said Catalans were aiming for a state "closer to a Swiss model which is more successful and more accommodating of globalisation than the Jacobin, centralised model represented by France or Spain.” This could, he said, theoretically be realized inside or outside of Spain, but the Spanish state had rejected all efforts at a constitutional transformation in the direction of a true federalism. “The independence of Catalonia is a way forward to building a more prosperous, democratic continent which is more respectful of its minorities.”

Introducing the event, Graduate Institute professor of international law Nico Krisch, who co-directs the Institute’s Global Governance Centre, described the Catalan struggle for independence as “one of the gravest constitutional crises that Europe has faced in its recent history.”

The event, which was moderated by BBC’s Geneva correspondent, Imogen Foulkes, is available to view below.