The chronicles say that the Aberri Eguna prior to Franco were very numerous. In 1934 in Vitoria-Gasteiz and 1935 in Pamplona more than 30,000 people met at a time when there was no private car. After the dictator's death, the Aberri Eguna had a rebirth in Hego Euskal Herria. In many houses a special meal was made, and when we were young, as we did a Easter holiday in the Basque Country, on Sundays we always did something to celebrate it.

Although the reference of the house is historical nationalism, as in other subjects, in nationalism I have also been quite heterodox. However, with the Aberri Eguna I always have a special adhesion. That is why I collaborated in many of the attempts that were made to celebrate the joint Aberri Eguna: with ABK and Euskaria, in those of Udalbiltza, in the essays carried out by the National Forum, was shot down by the Independence movement. I've often participated in Iparralde calls, because I've been more comfortable.

In recent years, though, I'm not very interested in going to that kind of thing, and it's not a matter of age. I know that it is much more than a day of proclamation of “Easter Sunday”, for most it is only a normal holiday. That is not my case, however, nor the eleven people I have been part of. I would say that we are in a kind of apathy: aporia. In classical Greek, aporia is defined as malaise, disgust, inability to manage contradictions.

This year’s Aberri Eguna will be the first of the new Political Era. I say “Aro”, “although the word cycle is being used”, the changes that have accelerated in recent years end the twentieth century. This influences more on ourselves and can certainly reflect that sense of apathy.

It's the time of 21st century politics, so new people have come to the plaza. For example, Imanol Pradales. Mr Pradales has not aroused me any interest, just as he could be a sympathetic candidate for the PSE or the PP, if any. Because it also aims to get the PP voter. It is a priority to maintain the Basque Government’s command staff. To this end, it definitely rejects the “sovereign line” and wants to solve the problem with potential voters in other areas.

Pradales represents the most technocratic sector of the PNV, is another person at the disposal of Repsol, Iberdrola, Armory and other lobbies. That is, if an Aberri Eguna were to wear mountain boots, he is a candidate who has no capacity to awaken the passion of hundreds of followers who will meet in Plaza Nueva de Bilbao. I really thought it would be difficult for the PNV to present a candidate worse than Urkullu, but it has succeeded.

But I've paid more attention to Pello Otxandiano. I heard your presentation online before publishing the book you just published. One-hour session with careful scenography, pedagogical before its well-known members. Otxandiano has a political profile adapted to the New Age: well prepared intellectually at the service of his group, a calm, credible speech. The reflection they have presented with their name is also solid, and I believe that they have clearly identified the great keys and challenges for the future of Euskal Herria. Unfortunately, however, I do not think it has much more chance of awakening the passion of the followers than of Pradales. And of course, I don't mean charisma. Political leaders with intellectual, ethical and strategic shortcomings often disguise themselves as charisma. Pello is not so, he replaces his possible charism by his attitude and preparation. I think the problem is somewhere else.

Sortuk, through EH Bildu, has achieved the hegemony of the very diverse sociological field (and is) in the South. Deactivate the initiative of the other parties that formed EH Bildu. Because, paradoxically, EH Bildu has also eaten Sortu. EH Bildu will be successful in the Gasteiz parliamentary elections. The space left by the other actors is very large, and although socio-political deactivation will increase abstention, it will be highly represented, perhaps also by those voted.

But that victory has its counterpart. However, EH Bildu is going to get the votes of the different socio-political areas, leading to a single strategy the transformative capacity of this broad socio-political space. It will therefore de facto reduce ideological diversity with strategic rigour. The path that has followed to achieve the hegemony of this sociopolitical space has left behind other possible, viable and necessary strategies.

EH Bildu has created an effective tool to the extent of professional politicians, but these trains that can be useful in reaching certain spaces of power are harmful to many other actors and, above all, to other essential lines of struggle. Because the enabling action chosen by EH Bildu has already created collisions with some popular movements and more than once with the trade union majority.

Otxandiano said well in his public baptism: we do not know the future, we have to travel in the age of uncertainty. So we need flexible strategies. Maintaining the strategies of the past will be a failure in the medium term. Burning “some boats” for short-term victory can cause irreparable damage. The reinvention of autonomy is neither viable nor desirable, the possible process of regeneration of the Spanish State is not the responsibility of the independence Basques. They say that patience is a good advisor, but when changes accelerate and those changes deny some possible futures, there is no time for patience.

SCHMIDHUBER, Member of the Commission. — (DE) Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I should like to begin by congratulating Mr Schmidhuber on his report. The gap between politicians and citizens has widened, also here. The approval of the three administrative areas that have divided the Basque Country has increased the gap between the citizens of these three territories. If political action on territorial division is not the axis, the strategic and geopolitical viability of the Basque Republic could be lost.

The New Era opens the door to impossible transformations 20 years ago: the process of constitution of the Basque Republic; placing Udalbiltza at the heart of the institutional process; empowering free Basque citizenship; taking steps towards radical democracy. Let us not lose ourselves in the labyrinths built by the enemy, let us not support the promoters of the 78 regime, which will lead us to an unsolvable hole.

We don't eat the PSOE hook, it's just a piece of poisoned meat. He has so far helped EH Bildu to get a very important mayor, but it's an exception. Context: the need to contribute to the formation of the government of Madrid; the weakness of UPN, the poor mayor of UPN. Conversely, manage 267 million (Pamplona budget) or, for example, EUR 484 million (25 000 fewer inhabitants than Pamplona). Of course, from the Basque Government, a forecast of 18 billion by 2025. The PSE for the Gasteiz Parliament will have low results, some 11 parliamentarians, but they will sell their aid to the PNV at a very high price.

This year, again, there is no possibility of holding the joint Aberri Eguna, and it surely would not make much sense. On the contrary, before the middle of the 21st century, let us reflect on the viability of the sovereign leap in the Basque Country. If we do not obtain all the legal instruments possessed by a State, we will not be able to address the challenges of the near future and the situation of dependence will be perpetuated: cultural, geopolitical, socio-economic. We cannot adapt as a people in such a complex and changing world.

Patxi Azparren