Spain says ETA's disarmament "clear evidence" of group's defeat

Spain's Interior Minister Ignacio Zoido on Monday said that ETA's disarmament, which took place in Saturday in the French town of Bayonne, was the "clear evidence of the group's defeat, as the only people who hand over their weapons are those who surrender."

Speaking at an event with the Spanish Civil Guards, Zoido insisted that the handing over of 120 firearms and over 3 tonnes of explosives by the Basque separatist group, whose 50-year struggle for Basque independence cost 829 lives, would not change Spanish government policy towards members of the group either still at large or in prison.

"Saturday's act of propaganda will never bring any benefits to ETA or those around them, in the same way they have not gained any benefits for stopping killing," Zoido said.

"There will not be any impunity or concessions for a defeated ETA and there never will be because this was not a voluntary action by the group, it was an act of emergency by the group in the face of the risk that their arsenal would be discovered by the security forces," added Zoido.

The Minister added that ETA's defeat was "a triumph, pushed forward by the virtues and ethical example of the victims of terrorism. It is a victory of democrats over violence," he said, adding that the government "only hoped for ETA to announce its definitive dissolution and to apologize for all the suffering cause and to tell the victims they are sorry."

"Until that happens, we will continue working to ensure what is left of ETA disappears from our lives once and for all," he concluded. Endit