ETA announces dissolution

Author (Corporate)
Publication Date May 2018
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Summary:

The Basque separatist group ETA announced on 3 May 2018 that it was to disband after a six-decade violent campaign for independence. The Spanish Prime Minister vowed not forget the group's crimes despite the announcement.

Further information:

In a letter from 16 April and later published by a Spanish newspaper, the organisation said it would completely dissolve its structures and end all its political initiatives. However, ETA also highlighted this was not the end of the conflict between the Basque region and from Spain and France.

ETA was founded in 1959 and began as a student-lef independence movement during the Franco dictatorship. It turned to violence in opposing the General's government, which vowed to suppress opponents and ban minority languages and cultures. It went on to rely on terrorism after General Franco's death and into Spain's democratic transition, despite concessions regarding autonomy of the Basque Country in Spain. The group envisaged a nation stretching beyond the Spanish region, to include Navarra and the Basque region of southwest France. During its campaign of violence, the group killed over 800 people. The group declared a ceasefire in 2011 and handed over weapons caches in April 2017. In April 2018, the group apologised for the harm caused to victims and their relatives during its violent campaign.

Related Links
News
BBC News, 03.05.18: Eta: Disbandment won't change our policy says Spain's Rajoy http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43991629
The New York Times, 02.05.18: Basque Group ETA Disbands, After Terrorist Campaign Spanning Generations https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/world/europe/spain-eta-disbands-basque.html
Sputnik International, 02.05.18: Basque ETA Guerrilla Group 'Completely Dissolved' https://sptnkne.ws/kkK5
Politico, 02.05.18: Basque separatist group ETA disbands https://www.politico.eu/article/eta-basque-separatist-group-disbands/
BBC News, 02.05.18: Eta: Basque group disbands but leaves deep wounds for Spain http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43961987
France24, 03.05.18: Basque separatists ETA announce it has ‘completely dissolved’ http://www.france24.com/en/20180502-basque-separatists-eta-announce-dissolved-france-spain
Reuters, 02.05.18: End of ETA met with both relief and resentment in Basque Country https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1I32B0

Commentary and Analysis
LSE European Institute: EuroppBlog, 10.05.18: History will judge ETA as a failed terrorist group, but there are lessons to be learned http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2018/05/10/history-will-judge-eta-as-a-failed-terrorist-group-but-there-are-lessons-to-be-learned/

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