Three years ago ETA finally abandoned armed activity. Subsequently, inter alia, the Baiona Declaration has been underlined on the road to peace and coexistence. What do you think of what has been achieved?

Many things have been achieved in Ipar Euskal Herria, including in Hegoalde, but, in general, the attitude of the Spanish and French states has not yet been changed. However, and to insist on this, there is a unilateral initiative that is taking steps, and another that has enormous intransigence. From the beginning we knew that our steps were not going to change the attitude of the two states. However, if we delve deeper into our path, the change of states will come. The Baiona declaration or convention is an example, perhaps it has not been echoed in terms of its importance, not in Euskal Herria, let alone outside here.

What is the value of the Baiona agreement based on?

Firstly, when the roadmap has been drawn up for the French State: it is generic and precise. General: it puts forward measures on the consequences of the conflict and refers to the essence of the conflict and the lack of institutional knowledge. This is fundamental to the resolution of the conflict. It is necessary, for example, as far as the issue of prisoners is concerned, because their rights and the steps to be taken on reintegration are points by point. The signatories to the Convention shall also be taken into account. The declaration defines the political scope of Iparralde, even on its own behalf and not on behalf of its parties.

However, to what extent it is not because of the need for these politicians to move. In other words, one thing is the will of those signatories and the involvement of the citizens who support another.

Even if I understand that, I would not take it away from him. That Max Brisson or Jean-René Etchegaray speaks to society under the terms of the Convention is a tremendous step. It is so certain that they will not show the will of all their voters, but with the commitment they have received they have brought the dimension of the conflict to another area. Because there is a need for greater participation by society, for the population to assume the need to resolve the conflict. In other words, the need to solve the conflict is not just a problem for the Abertzales, but you have to get the issue to get them excited as well. The agreement, in addition to demanding concrete measures from the State, points out that the problem is not just an issue between nationalists and the State. He also says that Euskal Herria needs a political framework. It is one of its virtues.

A demonstration in favour of Intza Oxandabaratz was held in Donibane Garazi in the Navarra locality of Tolosa. Hundreds of citizens have called for imprisonment not to be carried out in prisons.

In other words, the organizers have called on the elected officials to position themselves in the solution of the conflict, one of the characteristics of the mobilization. They have been in favour of a citizen by denouncing repressive measures. The demonstration has been carried out especially with the aim of reaching people. A total of 230 elects from Garazi and the districts of both neighborhoods have demanded that Intza Oxandabaratz not be imprisoned. It is noted that a change is taking place through the motions of the electorate. The people want change. The demonstration has been linked to the spirit of the Baiona agreement, which has qualified as "total normality".

The French regions are 22 and 13 next year. What valuation do you make of the new map?

The state calls decentralisation to regional reform, and for us it is recentralisation. You just have to look at the new letter from the counties. In the meantime, what institutions do we have? Municipal Houses and Various Public Schools. There's a department that mixes the harnesses with us. There is a great need for reflection and many questions always: How can we bring together the 280,000 inhabitants of the Basque Country to have weight in this macro-region? How do we organize to respond to the needs of everyday life and carry out the projects we have in Euskal Herria? The 50,000 inhabitants of the interior or of the Basque countryside, how will they affect this macro-structure? In Euskal Herria, however, decades ago we began to ask for the Basque institution, the objective of the Basques is clear. However, in the case of the proposals made by the State there are very winding roads. The key is not to miss out on those roads.

The Single Commonwealth of Iparralde has been the demand of the Abertzales over these years. The option of Herri Elkargoa, proposed by the prefect, has recently been envisaged.

The threat is increasing in recent years. Euskal Herria needs an urgent response. We need a structure with sufficient competences that will definitely shield territoriality.

In this sense, what is the position of EH Bai on the institutional option at the last moment.

We have analysed the proposals that have been put forward on the basis of basic criteria for us. The conditions are that the institutions have sufficient competence, that the territoriality of Euskal Herria is respected, that the representatives of the people are made by direct election, that the coast and the interior are cohesive and that this structure is evolutionary. At the moment, the possibilities do not come from the negotiation between Euskal Herria and France, so far the conditions are not met. The Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, strongly denied the Territorial Community, which was a resounding rejection. Here the request is agreed, but the French Government has refused. Therefore, without waiting for this to happen, we have to work what we boys and girls can do.

What to do and how to do it?

EH Bai – and recently Batasuna – has been in favour of the Commonwealth’s proposal. Always remembering our objective. Before the new institution proposed by the prefect, we have pointed out what is acceptable: whatever the institutions are, what are the minimums that must be complied with and where the red lines are. Because our path does not remain in the Territorial Community or in the Commonwealth, for us, as Abertzales, the path continues. We then pursue the Statute of Autonomy and the sovereignty of Euskal Herria. This is the first topic of the debates that will be held until the end of the year in all the municipalities of the country. Given the different assumptions that the prefect has made, we hope that the citizens will participate and reach the maximum possible. Whatever institution we get.

He has been optimistic: Will the Basque institution and the territorial framework be achieved in two years?

They will be obtained whenever the councils of Ipar Euskal Herria decide. Change is there. There are two ways: To ask the State and to depend on it, or to address the wager we make on it, that is, that within the framework of the strict possibilities given by the law, the local elect take the decision. In the event that the Local Councils ratify that they want a Public College by 2016, this structure will be included in two years.

EH Bai has gone from being a coalition to being a movement.

To date, EH Bai (AB, Sortu, EA) has been made up of three political parties, mainly to attend the Basque regional elections. The coalition has made the decisions taken on behalf of EH Bai take place on behalf of those three political parties. In recent years we have worked on a strategic agreement to go beyond the elecciones.Despues, we have taken the step of working together with other sectors that are out of party. With the steps that have been taken, we have moved from the coalition to the movement, so that the political parties, rather than making decisions, can also take decisions on the left and the Basque sides.

And what weight do the ildochics who are not party members have in movement?

There's no question of online movement. EH Bai will be renewed through local groups, management is made up of representatives of local groups. That's the change, the big one.

EH Bai changes in the background?

In the renewed EH Bai, the ideological and political foundations have been reaffirmed. Basically it does not change, it is not a new political project, we are not going to defend a different policy. Most of the people who make up the left-wing movement have not been affiliated to those three parties, but EH Bai’s biggest influence has been in the votes. However, it was a certain inconsistency, because although the entire scope of the Abertzale left is represented, it has been managed by the three main political parties, and given this inconsistency we have developed a process to reform EH Bai. The most important change of the present day is its nature, which will influence the organization and the journey of the movement. With this new approach, we intend to create a new structure in all the regions, a new form of decision-making, endorsing, of course, the political bases that have existed so far.

These are the votes for the departments to be held in March. Are they the last ones?

The latest... It's not easy to answer. Surprisingly, we don't know. This is the consequence of the political trajectory of the socialist government (PS). A mixture. They say that this is a brutal reform, but we do not know when it will end. The elections are coming: The General Councils must be chosen for the department, but we do not know the deadline for the members to be elected. Suppose the apartments don't go away entirely. Will they be evacuated by their own competences? We don't know. Nor is the competence of the new structures known under the NOTRe (New Territorial Order of the Republic) bill.

In any case, will the votes for EH Bai be significant?

They say that the General Councils will disappear, with the exception of some elects who are lobbying in rural areas. In that case, there could be the department of the Atlantic Pyrenees, with its own name. But we don't know. What has changed, however, is the voting field. These are 12 cantons in Euskal Herria and for the first time, the votes will be held hand in hand. The 'Debatea' programme will show the weight of EH Bai in the election campaign. Moreover, if we take into account that in May there will be elections in Hego Euskal Herria, the weight of the left abertzales will come on those same dates throughout the Basque Country.

In what context should we place the presentation of the Basque Way?

The context, above all, has been marked by two important developments in Europe around the right to decide: One is Scottish and the other is Catalonia. The events that have taken place in both territories have been a new wind in favour of the right to self-determination. Both are an example for us, both the work of holding a referendum in Scotland and the process being carried out in Catalonia. However, Euskal Herria is not Catalonia or Scotland, so one of the proposals put forward in Irun has been to present our way for the development of the process. The proposal is framed in the Euskal Bidea project, a path towards self-determination, the steps necessary to realize the right to decide, as well as the ways to work the way.

What is novelty?

It is basically based on a decision: Given the internal diversity of Euskal Herria, there are different administrative realities, and in part different socio-economic realities, so our intention is to move towards a single objective at different rhythms, taking differentiated steps. Consultations would also be different in different areas. These are the differences, that is, the recognition of the right to decide of all citizens, but the awareness that in this way there will be different stages, processes differentiated in the three areas.

Are these three realities a little further away, say, than 20 years ago?

They are closer to me: people move more, young people have more exchange of relations in the three territories and then, economically, many, even beyond nationalists, have understood that there is more chance if Iparralde and Hegoalde develop relations together. Furthermore, in politics, although we have lived through a hard and complicated road, we have experienced some experience among the citizens on both sides, in part Iparralde and Hegoalde. With the Euskal Bidea proposal we have demonstrated that we have reached maturity. For example, it is not taboo to say that there are different realities in Basque Country, but it is not denied that we are all Basque. That being the starting point, those of us who feel only Basques want our national rights to be recognised as Basques. In other words, aware that there are different realities in Basque Country, we have proposed a path based on this.