The new roadmap presented by EH Bildu to advance peace has an internal logic and has a look at society. Internally, in the steps initiated since 2011, and above all in the impetus of the Aiete Conference, EH Bildu put its forces in the resolution of the conflict.

Basically, the action of the Abertzale left has had three axes: one, to channel the peace process; two, to act in the important institutional framework recovered after the municipal and foral elections in 2011 and to delve into the effort to achieve new ones; and three, to feed the sovereign process. How do you sew it all?

The peace process and consolidation in the institutional sphere – the Abertzale left that came from the illegalization – took precedence, because the unilateral end of ETA would become a process of multilateral dialogue in Basque society, or at least in that sense. A multilateral process has not been achieved in at least three years. The Spanish Government is completely closed and in full offense; the PSE is getting into its own problems and the PNV is taking steps, but without haste. And although Basque society wants to move forward, even if the attacks of the PP are rejected, a kind of “this is peace” is also gradually taking root.

And maybe peace is something like this, but not entirely, because in addition to the ghosts of the past, the pain of conflict is still there, especially at the expense of prisoners and exiles, but also of the victims, without laying solid and shared foundations to develop it on the right path. There is the key to the Abertzale left that has the most interest in unlocking the peace process, to see how the peace process combines with the sovereign project that for it is fundamental to develop it as a political project. And it seems that from their union comes the Basque road to peace that has recently been presented. This phrase from the interview Rafa Díez offered to Berria last Sunday can serve to illustrate the situation: “The road has a single thread, a political change, in which we must integrate the consequences of the conflict.”

The Via Vasca para la Paz, presented last Sunday, proposes to move forward in four specific areas: victims and memory, prisoners and fled, disarmament and demilitarisation. Not only at the end of ETA, but also in the peace process, it calls for unilaterality, for Basque society to follow its path without looking at Madrid.

In the area of prisoners, steps can be taken from unilateralism, especially with the message – self-criticism – that prisoners can convey to Basque society, but the key is that of the new government to be set up in Spain. Which one? It is the hardest of the four areas. In the area of victim and memory, the Abertzale left could also take further steps, particularly as regards the recognition of damages and injuries. Beyond the need to guarantee human rights, demilitarisation is, above all, a claim that can be made in the medium term when everything goes ahead.

And the most important point that can be made now, also before, is the disarmament of ETA. There is a great deal of force in the arms, and it seems that the greatest steps are going to be taken in that area. This would be logical because, despite the scourge, it is the most feasible of the four areas presented, with a great symbolism and the most effective tool of the Abertzale left to process peace to Basque society. The Basque Government offered its participation at the end of 2014 and the Abertzale left did not receive it well. The Basque Government is now calling for the involvement of the Basque Government. If proposals and attitudes are true, ways will be found.

Certainly, the most important key to the peace process has not been mentioned precisely in this proposal, although it can be seen in the following lines: That EH Bildu and the PNV once and for all share common ground on the axis of pacification. Each with its social model and political project, but both nurturing the peace process from a minimum. On these rails, Basque society can take steps, if not hard. If that is not possible, forget the plans, they will not be effective.