The Basque Peace Process, Nationalism and Political Violence

Abstract

The Basque Country risked entering the new millennium as the last European Union region which was host to a violent nationalist conflict.¹ Nor was the prospect of stopping the violence and reaching a peaceful settlement on the agenda of policy-makers. Since ETA (Euskadi ‘ta Askatasuna/Basque Country and Freedom) began its violent campaign in the 1960s, fatalities — including those killed by extreme right-wing death squads — totalled nearly 900. ETA’s September 1998 ceasefire, its first unilateral and indefinite truce in nearly 30 years, has the possibility to transform the political arena. For the first time since 1960, the year ETA killed its first victim, the situation looks ‘ripe’ for the start of a peace process and a negotiated way out of the conflict. What reasons lie behind this shift? In short, what factors kick-started the Basque peace process? The following analysis focuses on these questions.