By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Oct 30 2002 (IPS)

Three parliamentarians from the separatist Basque party Batasuna, banned in August by a Spanish court, announced Wednesday that they will move the debate on the Basque Country’s self-determination to the broader European arena.

The new Batasuna strategy rests on placing the Basque question on the political agenda of the entire European region with sights on relaunching a peace process – a nod to the armed conflict involving the Basque group ETA and the Spanish military.

"We demand that the Basque peoples be recognised in the European sphere as a subject of the law," separate from Spain, the parliamentarians Arnaldo Otegi, Joseba Andoni Urrutikoetxea and Joseba Alvarez Forcada said in a statement.

The judicial declaration issued in August that made Batasuna illegal and was backed by Spain’s Executive and Legislative branches is based on the argument that the party violated democratic principles.

The main accusation against Batasuna is that it "legitimised and encouraged" the existence and actions of the violent separatist group ETA, which is blamed for the assassinations of dozens of people in the past two years.

The Spanish government considers Batasuna ETA’s political arm.

The three Basque lawmakers, champions of Basque independence, describe their region as a European nation without a state, with its population of 2.9 million people spread over an area of 20,864 square km in northern Spain and southern France.

In French territory are the Basque provinces of Lower Navarra, Lapurdi and Zuberoa, while on the Spanish side are Alava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya provinces, which comprise the Basque Country, one of Spain’s autonomous communities.

The nationalists also include the Spanish province of Navarra in the Basque map, though it is an autonomous community itself.

When a conflict – which is also of an armed nature – affects two states, it cannot be settled within the limits of each (France and Spain), because "obviously those powers are stronger there," argued Otegi, spokesman for the banned Batasuna.

"We Basques want to participate in the construction of Europe because we are probably the most ancient peoples of the region," said Urrutikoetxea during the Wednesday meeting with the press accredited by the United Nations in Geneva.

The Batasuna parliamentarians, who are being allowed to serve out their terms but may not act in name of their banned party, say they are convinced that before entering the phase of conflict resolution on the issue of self-determination that they need to ensure that the problem "is included on the European agenda."

That objective has largely been achieved, said Otegi, pointing to the reaction of Spain’s president, José María Aznar, who sent a complaint Wednesday to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the meeting of the Basque lawmakers with journalists at the UN’s Geneva headquarters.

The Batasuna spokesman commented that Aznar’s complaint is "ridiculous" because it "further enlarges the problem."

The three Basque lawmakers are also looking for support from international public opinion, and are doing so on a tour throughout Europe, having visited Italy and all regions of Switzerland, and plans for stops in Denmark and Portugal.

European intellectuals, legislators and politicians are necessary not only to mediate in the conflict but also to ensure that the peace process is taken up again, said Otegi.

The lawmakers of the banned Batasuna (inside Spain, they say they are members of the new Albertzaleak Socialist Party), criticised what they see as the model for European construction, because "it is a Europe of the states, of the multinationals and of the major interests."

They instead favour a "Europe of the peoples". The Basque party participates in the civil society movement against neoliberal economic globalisation and has adopted the motto "another world is possible", coined by the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre that drew tens of thousands of delegates to its first two annual meetings in 2001 and 2002.

Otegi said Basque leftists are pleased with the victory of former metalworker and union leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday’s presidential elections in Brazil. It is "a breath of fresh air in the context of the neo-colonial policy that the United States is pursuing" in Latin America.

The Basque left has a strong presence in Latin American countries, in part because of the importance of the Basque communities residing in that region, he said.

In the opinion of the Batasuna spokesman, the anti- globalisation movement in industrialised countries is based on anti-capitalist sentiments, while in Latin America it is based more on an "indigenous" approach.

"And we synthesise the two because we are to a certain extent an indigenous peoples who want to maintain ties to our land, similar to the Indians’ conception of their relationship with the Earth," he said.

But at the same time, the Basques embody anti-capitalist values because they believe that another social reality is possible, explained Otegi.

The three Batasuna parliamentarians acknowledged that the Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States created an unfavourable international scenario.

The attacks produced difficulties for all national liberation or emancipation movements around the globe, said the spokesman.

But the results of the elections in Brazil and the international movement against globalisation "constitute a certain regeneration of progressive political thought in the world today," he said on a positive note.

Excerpt:

By Gustavo Capdevila
GENEVA, Oct 30 2002 (IPS)

Three parliamentarians from the separatist Basque party Batasuna, banned in August by a Spanish court, announced Wednesday that they will move the debate on the Basque Country’s self-determination to the broader European arena.

The new Batasuna strategy rests on placing the Basque question on the political agenda of the entire European region with sights on relaunching a peace process — a nod to the armed conflict involving the Basque group ETA and the Spanish military.

“We demand that the Basque peoples be recognised in the European sphere as a subject of the law,” separate from Spain, the parliamentarians Arnaldo Otegi, Joseba Andoni Urrutikoetxea and Joseba Alvarez Forcada said in a statement.

The judicial declaration issued in August that made Batasuna illegal and was backed by Spain’s Executive and Legislative branches is based on the argument that the party violated democratic principles.

The main accusation against Batasuna is that it “legitimised and encouraged” the existence and actions of the violent separatist group ETA, which is blamed for the assassinations of dozens of people in the past two years.

The Spanish government considers Batasuna ETA’s political arm.

The three Basque lawmakers, champions of Basque independence, describe their region as a European nation without a state, with its population of 2.9 million people spread over an area of 20,864 square km in northern Spain and southern France.

In French territory are the Basque provinces of Lower Navarra, Lapurdi and Zuberoa, while on the Spanish side are Alava, Guipúzcoa and Vizcaya provinces, which comprise the Basque Country, one of Spain’s autonomous communities.

The nationalists also include the Spanish province of Navarra in the Basque map, though it is an autonomous community itself.

When a conflict — which is also of an armed nature — affects two states, it cannot be settled within the limits of each (France and Spain), because “obviously those powers are stronger there,” argued Otegi, spokesman for the banned Batasuna.

“We Basques want to participate in the construction of Europe because we are probably the most ancient peoples of the region,” said Urrutikoetxea during the Wednesday meeting with the press accredited by the United Nations in Geneva.

The Batasuna parliamentarians, who are being allowed to serve out their terms but may not act in name of their banned party, say they are convinced that before entering the phase of conflict resolution on the issue of self-determination that they need to ensure that the problem “is included on the European agenda.”

That objective has largely been achieved, said Otegi, pointing to the reaction of Spain’s president, José María Aznar, who sent a complaint Wednesday to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the meeting of the Basque lawmakers with journalists at the UN’s Geneva headquarters.

The Batasuna spokesman commented that Aznar’s complaint is “ridiculous” because it “further enlarges the problem.”

The three Basque lawmakers are also looking for support from international public opinion, and are doing so on a tour throughout Europe, having visited Italy and all regions of Switzerland, and plans for stops in Denmark and Portugal.

European intellectuals, legislators and politicians are necessary not only to mediate in the conflict but also to ensure that the peace process is taken up again, said Otegi.

The lawmakers of the banned Batasuna (inside Spain, they say they are members of the new Albertzaleak Socialist Party), criticised what they see as the model for European construction, because “it is a Europe of the states, of the multinationals and of the major interests.”

They instead favour a “Europe of the peoples”. The Basque party participates in the civil society movement against neoliberal economic globalisation and has adopted the motto “another world is possible”, coined by the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre that drew tens of thousands of delegates to its first two annual meetings in 2001 and 2002.

Otegi said Basque leftists are pleased with the victory of former metalworker and union leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Sunday’s presidential elections in Brazil. It is “a breath of fresh air in the context of the neo-colonial policy that the United States is pursuing” in Latin America.

The Basque left has a strong presence in Latin American countries, in part because of the importance of the Basque communities residing in that region, he said.

In the opinion of the Batasuna spokesman, the anti- globalisation movement in industrialised countries is based on anti-capitalist sentiments, while in Latin America it is based more on an “indigenous” approach.

“And we synthesise the two because we are to a certain extent an indigenous peoples who want to maintain ties to our land, similar to the Indians’ conception of their relationship with the Earth,” he said.

But at the same time, the Basques embody anti-capitalist values because they believe that another social reality is possible, explained Otegi.

The three Batasuna parliamentarians acknowledged that the Sep 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States created an unfavourable international scenario.

The attacks produced difficulties for all national liberation or emancipation movements around the globe, said the spokesman.

But the results of the elections in Brazil and the international movement against globalisation “constitute a certain regeneration of progressive political thought in the world today,” he said on a positive note.

Excerpt: