A FORMER Scottish Justice Secretary has insisted there must be a “political solution” to Spain’s attempts to extradite an ex-Catalan minister.

Kenny MacAskill, who served in the SNP Government under Alex Salmond, said it was not just a matter of due legal process, despite what the First Minister says.

It comes after Spain issued a European arrest warrant for Professor Clara Ponsati, an academic at St Andrews University who served in the now-deposed Catalan government.

READ MORE: Top Scots university defends professor facing 'political' extradition to Spain

She is expected to attend a police station in Edinburgh later this week, but her lawyer has pledged to fight the move – insisting it amounts to a “systematic attempt to criminalise the desire for independence”.

Writing in The Herald today, Kenny MacAskill argued it was “ultimately political both for the EU and for Scotland, whatever Nicola Sturgeon or Angela Merkel may say”.

He said: “The EU has a responsibility to act not just pass it to the courts like a political “black spot” and it’s why the SNP faces some challenges, given its political positioning on Brexit.”

He added: “What’s at issue here isn’t due process of law but the behaviour of a supposedly democratic nation and the failure of the EU as an institution to address it. The solution has to be political even if the initial question is legal.”

Kenny MacAskill: We need a political solution to the Ponsati affair

Kenny MacAskill– who served as Justice Secretary between 2007 and 2014 – said the EU has previously acted on the alleged abuse of European arrest warrants.

When Poland was considered to have misused the system, other EU states stepped in and forced them to halt.

He said the EU “cannot stand idly by” while democratic politicians are jailed and peaceful protestors beaten.

He added: “That cannot go on for two reasons.

“First, the situation in Catalonia is festering and worsening and needs to be addressed for the benefit of all of Europe. Secondly, whilst the EU has turned a blind eye to unwholesome actions by some central European states it was quick to act against Greece and its democratic government. That raises questions about the whole nature of the EU for many people.

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“Likewise, the SNP has positioned itself post the referendum with the EU as the white knight and Brexit Britain as the pantomime baddie, but it’s not so clear, unless this is resolved.

“That’s why even though due process needs to be followed it’s a political solution that must be found.”