FILE - In this April 18, 2018 file photo, former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont attends a meeting with lawmakers of his party, Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, file)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A Spanish Supreme Court judge lifted the arrest warrant for Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday, clearing the way for him to return home without fear of detention for the first time in nearly a decade.

Puigdemont, Catalonia’s former regional president, fled Spain for Belgium in 2017 after leading a failed attempt to break Catalonia away from Spain. He has since avoided attempts by Spain to have him sent back to face a court, while many of his confidants and supporters spent time in prison.

Now he looks set to go back to Spain just when the country is preparing for a national election next month. It is too early to know how his return would impact the campaign, but given his unpopularity in most of Spain, it is likely that opposition parties would try to use his return against incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

The 63-year-old Puigdemont cleared a major legal hurdle when Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena lifted his arrest warrant moments after Spain’s Constitutional Court announced it would apply a government amnesty for the Catalan separatists to one of Puigdemont’s political allies who had been found guilty of misusing public funds.

Llarena said he was lifting the arrest warrant for Puigdemont while awaiting the opportunity to study the Constitutional Court’s decision, which he said would likely affect the warrant.

Puigdemont gave a statement to the media from Waterloo, Belgium, where he has lived since he fled Spain. He did not mention any plan to return to Spain, while declaring victory over Spanish authorities. He also stuck by his position that Catalonia should become an independent state.

“What was decided today means the end of the age of political repression that lasted for nine years simply because we voted for our country to be free,” Puigdemont said. “(But) as far as the relationship between Spain and Catalonia, it solves nothing.”

From Waterloo, Puigdemont has maintained a loyal following among committed Catalan separatists back in northeast Spain, even as the independence movement has weakened. His penchant for the audacious was on display in 2024 when Puigdemont suddenly appeared in Barcelona, gave a public speech and slipped through the police's grip.

He has also kept control of his Junts party from abroad, maintaining an outsized role in Spanish politics.

Junts “No” was decisive in Spain's progressive government losing two key votes in Parliament this week when it tried to push through emergency housing measures amid street protests.

Puigdemont's fate has been linked to that of Prime Minister Sánchez.

Sánchez was only able to remain in power in 2023 when Puigdemont's Junts backed his formation of a new government in exchange for the amnesty. This week Sánchez responded to Junts scuttling his housing measures by calling a snap election for Nov. 29, hoping the discontent over housing will mobilize his voters.

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