Cyprus does not recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Spain's Catalonia, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"Cyprus condemns the violation of the rule of law and firmly stands by the need to fully respect the unity and uphold the Constitutional order of the Kingdom of Spain," the ministry said in a press release posted on Twitter.
"On the basis of these fundamental universal principles and the European legal order, Cyprus does not recognize the unilaterally declared independence of Catalonia," it said.
Spain's rich Catalonia autonomous region held a referendum on self-determination on Oct. 1, which had been declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court. The Catalan parliament on Friday announced unilateral independence of the region in the northeast of Spain.
In response, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday announced the immediate sacking of Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his government and called new elections in the region on Dec. 21.