Press release, 3rd February 2012

The International Contact Group (Basque Country) met again this week in the Basque Country. Our objective remains the same as defined in the mandate given to us by the parties: to continue the work to promote, facilitate and expedite the resolution of the conflict in the Basque Country.

In this context we take into account the interest that our visit has generated. We consider it is a sign of the will of the Basque society to maintain momentum towards political normalization.

The mandate of the International Contact Group determines as one of our functions: “to encourage and assist the parties, for as long as required, with the preparation and development of an agenda for political dialogue”. There is a similar directive in the 4th point of the Declaration of the International Conference in San Sebastian. It states that “there are often other issues that, if addressed, can assist in the attainment of lasting peace. We suggest that non violent actors and political representatives meet and discuss political and other related issues, in consultation with the citizenry,that could contribute to a new era without conflict. In our experience third party observers
or facilitators help such dialogue. Here, such dialogue could also be assisted by international facilitators, if that were desired by those involved.”

The International Contact Group understands and respects that initiating a process of political dialogue at a multi-party table should be located in the institutions that serve the political parties of the Basque Country as legitimate representatives of their citizens. The difficulty in this regard is the fact that not all the political sectors are represented in that Parliament which would have the result that the engagement would not be all-inclusive and therefore lack legitimacy.

It is our hope that Sortu is legalized as soon as possible and is able to present itself at the next elections. In this way, after the elections, all the political parties will be able to have representatives in the Parliament and a legitimate dialogue to resolve the conflict will be possible.

Meanwhile, we would encourage the political parties to begin working on the preparations for dialogue. The communication and the trust needed can be achieved by informal conversations, which are referred to as “talks about talks”. Thus, the basis will be set for the new Parliament to be able to deal with these important challenges for political normalization.

The responsibility to activate these “talks about talks” is on the political parties. The International Contact Group will keep encouraging them and its members are available to advise or assist if called upon to do.

Bilbao, February 3, 2012