Translated material
The Irish Way for Spain
Zapatero said he was studying Britain's experience of reconciliation with the Irish Republican Army, which declared non-violence in 2005. The Spanish prime minister believes there are three lessons to be learned from Ireland's path to peace - the need to "work carefully, build trust and not try to solve the problem in one fell swoop."
The struggle for the creation of a Basque state has been going on since 1959, during which time more than 800 people have died in terrorist attacks carried out by ETA militants. Socialist Prime Minister Zapatero, who came to power in April 2004, relied on political dialogue with the Basque separatists. In May 2005, parliament approved his plan to negotiate with ETA on the condition that the group lay down its arms. If the Spanish prime minister manages to solve the problem of Basque terrorism (which none of his predecessors managed), he will be able to lead the Socialist Party to victory in the 2008 elections.
The failure of the negotiations will give the opposition People's Party a trump card. They believe that one should never negotiate with terrorists, since such actions only add strength and authority to them. Then the cost of reconciliation with ETA may be too high.
The group's goals are still far from reality. First, ETA wants the autonomous region of Navarre, located in northern Spain, to join its future state. However, the vast majority of residents of the region consider this requirement unacceptable. Secondly, ETA also lays claim to those Basque areas that were ceded to France centuries ago. Thirdly, ETA would like to see the “Greater Baskonia” as a separate member of the European Union. In addition, the ETA leadership has strong left-wing tendencies in the style of Mao Zedong, which threatens the Basque region with economic and political upheaval.