Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont stated on Tuesday that he and four ex-cabinet members he would stay in Belgium for the time being, Reuters reported.
“For the moment we will stay here,” Puigdemont said at a press conference in Brussels.
Puigdemont said he hoped to be able to return to Spain if he was elected a member of the Catalan parliament, but he was not sure if he would be arrested and put in custody.
“We have to carefully consider such a decision before taking it,” he said.
Spanish authorities dropped an international arrest warrant for him on Monday in order to bring his case solely under Spanish jurisdiction and avoid a lengthy extradition process through the Belgian courts.
Puigdemont and four ex-cabinet members traveled to Brussels shortly after he was sacked by the central government.