The
chances of ending
Europe's last homegrown
terrorist cause
By
Jonathan
Power
TFF Associate
since 1991
Comments to JonatPower@aol.com
November 12, 2004
LONDON - The Basque autonomy
question and its corollary, the future of Europe's one
remaining active, homegrown, terrorist movement, is
moving into a new phase, one both subtle and
contradictory.
The relatively new Socialist
government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
works both sides of the street. On the one side it has
just convened a meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Pact, a
forum where the government and the opposition meet to
review a joint approach to Basque terrorism. Despite
their bitter differences, as recently as three years ago
the Popular Party and the Socialist Party combined their
forces in an unsuccessful effort in the Basque regional
elections to avoid victory by the moderate Basque
Nationalist Party. Both the mainstream parties do their
best to stand shoulder to shoulder in their support of
the security services which recently had a stunning
success in capturing top leaders of ETA, the terrorist
arm of Basque nationalism. Many in Madrid are now saying
that ETA is effectively smashed.
This overblown rhetoric of victory
sharply contradicts the insistence of the Popular Party
on ETA's connections with Islamist terrorists. Even at
last week's meeting of the Anti- Terrorist Pact the PP
representatives were arguing that the government should
do more to investigate the relationship between the ETA
terrorists and the Islamic ones, even though no one in
the security services believes that the Islamists who did
the bombing had any Spanish allies of any
kind.
It's all a face saving game on
behalf of the former PP prime minister, José
María Aznar, who has been accused in those crucial
three days between the bombing and the election of trying
to mislead the electorate by insisting that the bombing
was the work of ETA, despite much evidence to the
contrary, in his attempt to ensure victory.
But whilst these interparty
tensions are being played out Zapatero is also working
another side of the street. The new government has
changed the tone Madrid takes towards Basque nationalism.
Zapatero recently invited Juan José Ibarretxe, the
leader of the Basque Nationalist Party, to Madrid, along
with the presidents of other regional governments, to
discuss measures that would give the regions a more
powerful independent voice, even the right to talk
directly to the Brussels headquarters of the European
Union about issues that concern them.
The question for the future is can
Zapatero develop the pace of the dialogue with Basque
nationalism so that the hard core is reduced to scores
rather than the hundreds and thousands it has been? ETA
is down but is certainly not out. On November 14th
Batasuna, the political wing of ETA, that used to hold a
small number of seats in the Basque parliament but is now
banned, is planning to issue a policy document. Already
leaked to the press it apparently makes no commitment to
abjure violence and has been summarily rejected by
Madrid.
But this otherwise conciliatory
document suggests this could be the opportunity to
resurrect the Lizarra Declaration of 1988 that was
closely modeled on the Good Friday agreement that brought
an end to IRA terrorism in Northern Ireland. The Lizarra
Declaration led to ETA's first cease-fire without a time
limit in ETA's history. Whilst blame for the breakdown of
the truce can fairly be aimed at both sides it is
nonetheless true that Aznar's approach could not have
been more different than Tony Blair's in Northern
Ireland. Blair was ready to make concessions, whilst
Aznar stuck to his guns arguing that the Basque country
already had more autonomy that any other region in
Europe. But as Paddy Woodworth, the Irish Times
correspondent based in Madrid and a close student of both
situations, has argued in the current issue of World
Policy Journal, "This is rather disingenuous because, as
Aznar must have known, it was Britain's recognition of
the Irish people's right to determine their own future
that brought the IRA to the table, and not the limited
powers on offer to the Stormont government. The core
issue is really that, while London is now prepared to
relinquish control of Northern Ireland, Madrid regards
the Basque country as an essential element in the Spanish
nation."
The same could be written about
Zapatero's attitude today, even if his policy is rather
softer around the edges than Aznar's. As Blair talked to
Sinn Fein, Zapatero needs to talk to Batasuna and he
needs to rescind Aznar's ban on the party contesting
seats in the Basque regional parliament. Moreover, he
should withdraw his opposition to Ibarretxe's planned
referendum on Basque self-determination. (In a more
conciliatory atmosphere Ibarratxe could well lose it or
at least win it by a majority unconvincing enough to
pursue independence.) For its part Batasuna, if it is
clever, must lean on ETA to declare an indefinite
truce.
Copyright © 2004 By
JONATHAN POWER
I can be reached by
phone +44 7785 351172 and e-mail: JonatPower@aol.com
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