ETA ends armed campaign and political efforts for Basque homeland

ETA ends armed campaign and political efforts for Basque homeland

Spanish separatist group ETA says it has ended its armed campaign and political efforts to create a Basque homeland but the Spanish government vowed to keep prosecuting militants.

ETA said in an open letter to the Basque people that it has “completely dismantled all of its structures” and “will no longer express political positions, promote initiatives or interact with other stakeholders”.

The group killed more than 850 people in its six decades of existence.

Former militants will keep on seeking a “reunited, independent, socialist, Basque-speaking and non-patriarchal Basque country” but they will do it outside of ETA, the letter said.

A key challenge for left-wing Basque separatists “will be to bring into effect the right to decide, in order to achieve recognition of our nationhood,” it added.

Spanish PM visits UK
Mariano Rajoy said ETA had failed to impose an independent Basque state (Matt Dunham/PA)

He said the group had failed in imposing through violence an independent Basque state.

“Whatever ETA does or says, it won’t find any loophole for impunity,” Rajoy said. “ETA can announce its disappearance, but its crimes or the action of the judiciary won’t disappear.”

ETA, which stands for “Basque Homeland and Freedom” in the Basque language, carried out bombings, shootings and kidnappings, most of them after Spain transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s.

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