Patriots who have come from Zuberoa, Nafarroa Beherea and Lapurdi: patriots from Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa, Nafarroa and Araba: welcome to all of you.

Different territories and different ways of speaking as the writer Axular from Navarra said almost four hundred years ago: “ Zeren anitz moldez eta diferentki mintzatzen baitira Euskal Herrian” (“…well, with different manners and ways of speaking [euskara] in Euskal Herria”). However, we are only one nation and that is how it was sung by Michel Labaguerie from Iparralde: “Gu gira Euskadiko gaztedi berria, Euskadi bakarra da, gure Aberria” (“We are the new Basque youth, and Euskadi is one, and it is our country”)

When I was a child my father taught me that song of Labaguerie, and our children will also learn it and also their children. We are an ancient people and we have come a long way but we are still here, because if there is anything that this people have, here and now, that is a future. They cannot deny that we are a nation, because we have sufficient strength to be a nation.

To reach this objective we have an instrument in our hands which is infallible because it is the most powerful arm in democracy: we have the voice and will of the people, and due to this we can decide our future in peace and freedom.

I would also like to greet those friends of our who have come to visit us from different places: from Catalonia, the land which Xabier Lete said “zu zera beste Aberri, etxe hurbil maitea” (“you are my other country, a cherished and beloved home”) Josep Antoni Duran and Felip Puig, of CiU; from northern Catalonia Jordi Vera; from Galiza the companion Xose Manuel Beiras; from Valencia Josep Maria Panyella; from Majorca Pere Muñoz and Camia Nicolau; from the Canary Islands Juan Jesus Ayala, and from Andalucia Juan Carlos Soriano. From Kurdistan our companion Carlos Kurdi and from Africa, specifically from Angola and Bioko, Virgilio Samakuba and Honorato Mao; from Saboya Claude Gervais and Patrice Abeille, from Occitania Philippe Sour, From Brittany Pierre Fourel and from Italy Flaminia Baffigo.

But today I wish to remember especially all those who are not with us any more, those who started in San Miguel de Aralar and who continued with us until the Alderdi Eguna of the last few years: they were the grandparents of some, the parents of others or the brothers and sisters of still others, and they have left us for ever. I wish to remember all those who have gone before us because thanks to them we are here today, because if this Party and this nation have reached the level of freedom and welfare that we now enjoy this has been made possible by the efforts of the previous generations, we are in their debt. Although today they are not in this place we do not forget them and, above all, we are prepared to continue along the same path as them.

Many of the young people who twenty-five years used to meet in the campsites of EGI in Olarizu and Aixerrota have come here today, to Foronda, with our children. And the young people who are in front of us now looking very tired, will return in not so many years with your children, because as Xabier Lete said: “gu sortu ginen enbor beretik sortuko dira besteak” (“ from the same trunk from which we sprang others will be born”). That is the song of our people that sings of that chain which does not break in spite of the passing of the years, and it is the task of a patriot to ensure that it never breaks.

In this 28th Alderdi Eguna I do not want to forget the man who for twenty-five years has spoken to us in this place, who was the leader of our party during the twenty-five most fruitful years of the patriotic movement: Xabier Arzalluz.

I know very well, Xabier, that you are not in favour of accolades. We know that, as you said in the Euskalduna Palace, you prefer to go out the side door, but you cannot leave our inner memory.

You are here, as always, Xabier, and today I would like that these meadows of Foronda be a simple homage to you. Perhaps you would say this with much more adequate words; but I however, Xabier, cannot do any other thing than thank you in the name of all who are here today.

This year 2004 we commemorate three anniversaries: the centenary of the birth of the Lehendakari Agirre, the centenary of EGI and the 25th anniversary of the Statute of Gernika.

The Lehendakari Agirre was born 100 years ago. We are proud to be the continuators of Jose Antonio Agirre. We are the offspring of Agirre, Manuel de Irujo, Juan Ajuriagerra, Xabier Landaburu, and Joseba Rezola of the Lehendakari Leizaola and of all that generation who fought on the front against fascism. They suffered courts martial. In many cases they were executed. Many had to go into exile with the hope of returning to a free Euskadi one day. We feel proud of our older generation.

The Lehendakari Agirre is the reference for that generation. Possibly he has been the most relevant Basque of the 20th century. If, instead of being the Lehendakari of a massacred people he had been the president of a state, he would have been referred to as one of the most relevant European statesmen of the century.

We will never forgive Aznar who, through lies and manipulation, attempted to stain with violence the good name of the Party of Agirre, Ajuriagerra and Irujo. We shall never forget that Aznar used the political and media apparatus of the State to discredit and associate Basque nationalism with violence. The Lehendakari Agirre and his generation lived with the lies and manipulation of Gernika. We have lived for five years with the lie of complicity with ETA. They have deceived many Spaniards of good faith. We shall never forget this manipulation.

Agirre had the clear idea that the Basque nationalists would always choose freedom and democracy rather than intolerance and fascism. And we, their heirs well know that ETA represents intolerance. Threatening town councillors, attacking ertzainas, causing anguish in their families or extorting businessmen who do not except their blackmail is, to put it simply, fascism. Because the supreme value of human life is something which we also learned from Agirre and his generation.

It is stirring to read the letter that the government councillor wrote to his Lehendakari Agirre moments before his execution in the prison of Vitoria. He finishes by saying “Nothing more, dear friend and always president. When history judges all of us, it will be seen that we did everything we could to avoid the deaths of prisoners and to conserve an absolute respect for all ideas opposed to ours. I give you an embrace for all eternity”.

They attempted to maintain the dignity and the rights of the prisoners in their custody. These were their values. These same values are ours today. For that reason we demand the same respect for the relatives of prisoners who are obliged to travel long distances to visit their loved ones. However cruel the crimes that these prisoners have committed, their fathers, their mothers, brothers and sisters and children are innocent. Nobody has the right to apply a vindictive policy against them.

These were the values of Manuel de Irujo when he tendered his resignation as Minister of Justice of the Republic in August 1938for refusing to sign death penalties. All of this is in the base and heart of this Party and those who go against freedom and human dignity will always have us in opposition.

The other great passion of the Lehendakari Agirre was his defence of the Basque nation. He always sought a respectful relationship with the other peoples of the State, but from the point of view of the acceptance of our freedom as a nation and our free will to participate in that project. This position also forms an essential part of the Basque National Party.

Twenty-six years ago after the Alderdi Eguna of Olarizu, the Party held a National Assembly to decide its position relative to the Constitution. In that Assembly in the autumn of 1978, the EBB presented a consideration on the Constitution which said: “As a National Party, it is very difficult for us to agree with a concept of the State created by the State, as the depository of all original sovereignty, any autonomy will always be conceded by the central power”.

That was our position in 1978 and this is also our position in 2004. Therefore, President Zapatero should know that now a constitutional reform is being started: the Basques will only accept a participation in a project of the State in which we can participate voluntarily, by means of our own free decision. This is the key. It was not possible in 1812. It was not possible in 1931. Then again it was not possible in 1978 which was the reason why the majority of Basque society did not accept the constitutional text. We shall never accept a Spanish Constitution which does not recognize this right.

Lehendakari Aguirre was also a great pro-European. Nowadays, when even jacobites like Borrel or Mayor Oreja say that they are in favour of Europe, it is a good thing to remember that we are descendents of Agirre, Irujo, Landaburu, Rezola and the generation that fought the war against fascism, suffered exile and contributed to the birth of the political Europe.

That generation, as Manuel de Irujo said, soon discovered that that particular Europe was not the Europe of the peoples that we were looking for but rather that of the States.

But that union of Europe, although managed by the States at the moment, is to be the one that will weaken the frontiers and so in the future we can be a nation in Europe.

However nobody can say that the are more pro-European than us, the Basque National Party which was there in the creation of the European Union with Agirre, Landaburu and Irujo. And we were there not because we were clairvoyant and the others were no, but because we are a people divided by a frontier.

It was in this way because the peoples divided by frontiers and the nations without a state are the most enthusiastic defenders of Europe, but we have been audacious and we have always asked for a united Europe, without armies, frontiers, diplomacy or state embassies precisely because our option is that the united Europe have a single voice and representation all over the world.

Agirre was very conscious that we are a people living in two States. The Basques can only have a united Euskadi, with Hegoalde and Iparralde, if the European unity process advances and one day the Bidasoa frontier will disappear definitively. If the European process does not advance, Iparralde and Hegoalde will be more distant. Our political objective will always be a united Euskadi from the Adour to the Ebro and from the Encartaciones to Zuberoa. The day we forget this then it will not be worthwhile being a militant in this Party.

Agirre was also an euskaltzale (Basque speaker) who cultivated and spoke his beloved language perfectly and who taught it to all his sons and daughters, the same as the present Lehendakari has done. In the same way we feel proud of the Lehendakari Agirre we feel proud of you also here today because you are and will be our Lehendakari in the future.

This year we also celebrate the centenary of EGI. And I do not want to let this anniversary pass by. I am very proud of having been a militant of EGI. EGI taught me to love this country. EGI taught me the basic political values which have guided my militancy: the integrating Basque nation, freedom, respect for human rights, social justice. I owe a lot to EGI. Therefore, first of all I appeal to the organs of the Party. We have to give this youth the opportunity to participate in the political life of the Party in the same way that we had. We have to give them the opportunity of making right and wrong decisions. We have to make EGI the reference of the Party policies concerning youth.

But I also have a requirement for the young people of the Party. You have to demand training for yourselves. You have to have more ambition. Be critical but above all be self-critical. We need you more than ever.

But we need you educated. You have the responsibility of continuing with the compromise of building the Basque nation as represented by this Party. I started by speaking of “gu sortu ginen enbor beretik sortuko dira besteak”. “Zuek zerate ardaxka gazteak”. You have a historical ewaponsibility, above all at a time when this Party is going to be the motor of a new framework for self-government which this country will achieve. Because this is the moment when we are going to decide our future in peace and freedom.

I ask you for a commitment. And above all values. The value of respect, respect for people, respect for their rights respect for coexistence, respect for the democratic decisions of a society, respect for minority groups, respect for social cohesion, support for the unfortunate, for those who are different…

These are the values that a young person of EGI has to defend. And, also, commitment. Commitment for the project for the country, against those who understand politics as a means to power, influence or private crusades.

Above all, never let hate fill your hearts. Not for those who insult us or threaten us or for those who despise us. That is the greatness of this Party and it is your obligation to maintain it so’ following the example of people such as Lurgorri, who never hated, never asked for anything and gave everything, including his like for this country.

Twenty-five years have also passed since the approval of the Statute of Gernika. Twenty-five years ago in Aixerrota, we proposed our Yes for the Statute: “Estatutoari Bai”. There have been many lights and some shadows over the last 25 years.

But as a Party we were right in that stake. Today the young people consider it normal to have a TV in Euskera. In the New Year of 1983 many of us had tears in our eyes when we saw the first news programmes, films and football matches in Euskera. We had never seen this before. We had to learn to read and write in Euskera at night school. Many parents could not transmit their tongue to their children and now play in Euskera with their grandchildren.
These were times when our economy was falling to pieces and today, however, we are above the average European income. We obtained the Economic Agreement and the capacity to turn our country around like a sock. We have developed our own Ertzaintza…We can proudly state as a Party that although we have not been alone in achieving these accomplishments but we have been the main motor of this advance, the most active and committed promoters.
But there have also been dark areas. Thar Statute was a Pact. A Pact between two part who promised to respect it. But one of the parts did not do so. Twenty-five years later there still have not been any transfers in Research, and Social Security and employment policies have not been placed in the hands of the Basque Institutions. Just with the yearly surplus of the Social Security and the INEM in Euskadi – what we pay minus the expenditures – we could build five Guggenheim museums every year. Then the economists at the service of the regime say that the proposal of the Lehendakari will lead us to ruin. Furthermore, Madrid has continually approved laws in the Congress which have diminished our self-government. They have done so in Education, in the University and in Health. They have broken the Pact and they have used unilaterally as they have wanted. They change the rules of the game as they see fit.
They have prevented our presence in the European Union, where the decisions are taken, preventing us from defending our self-government. If the Basque Government had been able to be in Brussels over the past few years, defending a competitive shipbuilding sector, possibly we would not now have a Naval in Sestao on the road to bankruptcy with the PP first of all and now with the PSOE.
That is why we need a new self-government. We want Euskadi to be able to continue building an education system and our own university. From a position of respect for our identity we should be allowed to form our young people in an open world. That is why we want to go ahead with the proposal for a New Political Statute.

We want all the economic instruments in the hands of the Basque institutions. We do not want to wait 21 years since the first design of the high speed train without a single excavator having moved. We need a New Political Statute in order to create wealth and create employment in the future world.

It is time to be everywhere. We need to be in Europe, where the decisions are taken so that we can defend the shipbuilding sector there. Or the incentives for corporations that create employment. That is another reason why we want a new pact. A new Statute but with guarantees.
We need to establish a respectful model of relationship between Euskadi and the State where we can participate, where we can be committed, always of our own free decision, and having in our hands the capacity of defining what instruments, what policies, what tools have to be in our hands to solve the problems. For these reasons also we want the proposal of a New Political Statute.

I could not vote for the Gernika Statute. Almost half the people here today could not vote for the Statute. We were not old enough. We too want to decide our future and we are going to work to that end.

The quality of life and welfare enjoyed by society has been, basically, the result of our self-government. The proof is in the fact that we have achieved the average level of wealth of Europe in different areas and indicators: income, employment, research in corporations.

However, now is the time to push ahead more than ever. Euskadi should start to take as its own model those territories which today are the most advanced in Europe: Finland, Bavaria, Flanders, Baden-Wütenberg and others like these. But to do this we need another level of self-government, with a greater capacity for renovation and more modern, closer to the reality of the citizens and which can count on the support of Basque society. We need a new Statute so that Euskadi can be a pioneer in Europe, so that we can live in peace, so that Basque men and women can decide our future with illusion and confidence without any doubt about what our possibilities are. Truly we Basques have before us one of the most beautiful tasks of recent times.

Yes. We hold in our hands one of the most passionate tasks which a generation of Basques has had for some time. We cannot permit that extreme conservatism, a centralism that denies our collective rights and even less the violence of ETA prevent our advance and decide our future. They will do everything to prevent us achieving it in this first phase. Therefore if this autumn we have 36 parliamentarians and we need 38, we will go out and find them. We are decided to get this country out of the tunnel which some people would like us to continue in. This is not stubbornness. This is the democratic will. This is tenacity. This is the Basque National Party. Today a Basque is more important than ever. Each one of us has the strength in his or her hand. If we Basques mobilize this year, if we believe in our strength. If we stake on building the future that we want, then we shall go ahead.


Today I would like to ask you something special. This is not now the proposal of the Lehendakari. It is the proposal of many Basques – men and women those who believe that this country is worth it. Those that want a self-government for the new times to come. Those of us who want that the Basques can decide the type of relationship that we want with the Spanish State. Those of us want to see ourselves in Europe and the rest of the world. Those of us who dream of Euskadi at peace and for which it is worthwhile taking a risk, Euskadi deciding its own future. Now we can decide.

Today we all have to leave here with a commitment. A commitment to work in our family, at our job with our friends. Because peace, coexistence and the respect for all of us is worth it.

The same as 25 years ago we took to the streets so that this country could have self-government, today we have to put our boots on again and talk to people so that our people can decide the future in peace and freedom.

We ask you and appeal to you. Each one of you. We ask for commitment. We ask for mobilization. We appeal to the force which every person has. We are in crucial year. If we succeed and this depends on each one of you our children will be grateful. We shall win the future. Because we are a nation and we shall continue to be a nation. This has been, is and will always be the reason for the existence of the Basque National Party.

Gora Euskadi Askatuta.