Francesc Vendrell, diplomat, lawyer and senior official of the United Nations, awarded Doctor Honoris Causa by the URL

Barcelona, 12 June 2015. This afternoon Francesc Vendrell i Vendrell, a Catalan diplomat who was an undersecretary of the United Nations, special envoy to the UN and the EU in various conflicts around the world, and is now a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University in Bologna, was invested Doctor honoris causa by Ramon Llull University (URL) on a proposal from the Blanquerna-URL Faculty of Communication and International Relations (FCRI).

A universal Catalana

Josep Maria Carbonell, of the Blanquerna-URL FCRI and sponsor of Mr Vendrell, has referred to him as a "universal Catalan" and quoted from the thirteenth century to place him in a Catalan diplomatic tradition: "Many of our fellow citizens in the field of arts, sciences and literature have won wide recognition, international fame [...] Vendrell is one of these universal Catalans and truly represents, in plain speech and without resorting to hyperbole, the vocation of a secular spirit which puts first the virtues associated with restraint and sobriety, the search for agreement and understanding as the primary value of relationships between human beings and their organisations, from representative groups of all conditions up to States themselves".
 

A peacemonger

Carbonell defined Vendrell as an active person, committed to modernity, who has always maintained respect for his country with dignity and a solid training and a very intense career, based on dedication and learning; as a valued advisor to various agencies that trust in his opinion, and as a senior peacemongering diplomat with a great willingness to dialogue, who has achieved many goals throughout his career in mediating conflicts, with an outstanding contribution in two areas of human and universal interest: Human rights and democratisation processes.

Carbonell ended his speech with these words: "Peace is a very delicate word. When it is kidnapped as a slogan, its deeper meaning often suffers terrible shocks. Peace, this precious commodity, is built with agreements and initialled with signatures, agreed in documents and meetings, built through dialogue, achieved with knowledge and obtained from the calm and steady hand of individuals such as the man we acknowledge today. What I mean is that peace bears a name. When we say this word, in Catalonia, let us always keep in mind the example and expertise of Dr. Francesc Vendrell."

Addressing the causes of conflict during its resolution

Next came the investiture as Doctor honoris causa and the awarding of the title and attributes to Francesc Vendrell by the rector of the URL, Josep Maria Garrell.

Vendrell's long history of teaching was clear from his work, which focused on exposing the categories of disputes, some of which he intervened in personally.

The type of conflict that has spread the most, in the current context of Catalonia, is that which Vendrell himself classified as "Conflicts over demands for political control of territory within an existing state or for self-determination by the inhabitants of a specific territory within a State."

Vendrell explained that there are two points that are vital for resolving conflicts: "The first is when the parties realize that a military solution to the conflict is not possible; and the second good time is when there is a window of opportunity and it used for a certain time. I believe frankly that Catalonia and the Basque Country would not have had the degree of autonomy that they had around 1977-78 if the window of opportunity that came with the change of the Franco regime to democracy had not been used" acknowledged Vendrell.

"International law is silent on the question of self-determination. It is enshrined in Article One of the United Nations Charter as a principle, but not as a right. Exceptionally, with the passage of time, the United Nations has recognized the right of self-determination to the peoples who inhabit a non-autonomous territory (NAT) and that is because international law has evolved since the Charter was adopted".

Vendrell explained that recent years have seen the creation of new states that have come to be for various reasons, "however, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has clearly stated that international law contains no rule that prohibits a particular territory from demanding to secede; ultimately, international law is neutral in cases of independence or requests for self-determination".

"So, though the past 70 years have witnessed the creation of an unprecedented number of new States members of the international community, this has been accompanied by a rigidity in accepting changes to the territorial borders of existing states or even those of colonies" said Vendrell. He also remarked that today "there is an obsession with maintaining the borders of states and small colonies, which found its expression in the African Union and was extended when Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union broke up."

"This is the current state of affairs, whether we think it satisfactory or otherwise. But the question must be posed - how are democracies, particularly in Europe, inside the European Union, expected to react when faced by demands from existing units in their territory, to alter their existing status?" Vendrell added that there are a few examples, some of which are very recent, such as the government of the United Kingdom and Scotland.

"In Spain we are a relatively young democracy and obviously we are not as developed as others; for example, still we have yet to achieve an independent judiciary. But I wonder if it is legitimate not even to accept to dialogue when an entity that is an integral part of a State asks for the right to decide. Is it legitimate to deny the people of this entity, who speak a different language, the possibility for their internal statute to proclaim themselves as a nation, even if not calling for secession? In the UK, no-one has thought to deny that Wales, Ireland and Scotland are nations. And I wonder to what extent there is a moral obligation to sit down with the other party and seek a peaceful solution, rather than simply closing the door to any dialogue."

The trajectory of the Blanquerna-URL FCRI

Finally, Josep Maria Garrell, Rector of the URL, recalled that this is the second honoris causa the University has granted on a proposal of the Blanquerna-URL FCRI. "Although the first was awarded ten years ago, it was to a giant of journalism (Ryszard Kapuscinski); now it is to another huge personality in the field of international relations. It is no coincidence that both these proposals take root in the two banners the Faculty has in its name: communication and international relations." In this connection, Garrell recalled that the Blanquerna-URL FCRI was a "pioneer in offering the first Bachelor's degree in international relations in Catalonia and the first in Spain to offer them in English and in a co-official language."

The Rector stressed that the Faculty proposed Vendrell as a model to be observed and followed, and how international relations and foreign policy should be understood and practiced; and he added: "I cannot help thinking how Vendrell's way of dong things is imbibed with the values of Christian humanism that inspire this University. Humility, respect for the parties, dialogue, the search for justice and a long list of features that Dr. Vendrell has listed today when referring to diplomacy are, without doubt, also a way of understanding human relations and, above all, the way we want to teach them."

Documentation of the event

• Book with the speeches from the event
• Collection of photographs of the event
• Video of the event

More information:
Anna Tosca
Head of Press Office and Social Networks
Ramon Llull University
Tel. 936 022 228 | 692 671 597
atosca@rectorat.url.edu | twitter.com/uramonllull