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Basque Nationalist Action (, , EAE–ANV) is a Basque nationalist party based in
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. Founded in 1930, it was the first Basque nationalist
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
to exist running on a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
program. On 16 September 2008, the party was outlawed by the Spanish Supreme Court based on ties with ETA. The Spanish ruling was appealed to the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
, which, after reviewing the question, upheld the Spanish courts on the matter.


History

It was formed in 1930, upon the reunification of the ultraconservative ''Aberri'' group and the moderate majority '' Comunión Nacionalista Vasca'' in the Basque Nationalist Party, by those who refused to support the traditional clerical ideology of the party. Its support was restricted to urban middle class and, as such, was a minority party. ANV played a minor role during the
Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
, when it usually aligned with left and republican parties (being even part of the Popular Front in 1936) and in the
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
. It was a part of the Basque Government in Exile from 1936 to 1979, and of the Spanish Republican government in Exile from 1938 until 1946, represented by a
minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...
, Tomás Bilbao. When democracy resumed in Spain, ANV run by itself for the first contemporary Spanish general election presenting candidates in Biscay and
Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...
, achieving a meagre 0.64% of the total votes in the Basque country. During these years, ANV received compensation for the property seized after the war by the Francoist government. After the 1977 election, ANV chose not to run for elections by itself but run in subsequent elections as a minor part of the electoral platforms of the Basque National Liberation Movement. It was not a part of KAS though. Thus, when the Basque independentist party, Batasuna, was banned by the Spanish Supreme Court in 2002 after government allegations of its close relationship to ETA, EAE-ANV remained as a legal party.


Rise to prominence

The banning of Batasuna drew attention to the virtually unknown and inactive EAE-ANV as it was informally designated by Batasuna's ranks as the political heir of the illegalized Batasuna. Consequently, it was during the 2007 municipal and provincial Spanish elections when the new EAE-ANV received intensive media and political attention. Nearly half of its lists were declared illegal prior to the elections, because a significant portion of the candidates on them had previously run for either Batasuna, EH or HB (different reincarnations of the same base). This despite the fact those parties were legal when these candidates ran for them. The Supreme Court declared that those EAE-ANV lists were providing cover to an illegal party (Batasuna), and, therefore, those list including former Batasuna members were ineligible. EAE-ANV only disclosed its intentions to run for those elections with the shortest possible legal notice. Thus, the legal assessment declaring some of the lists ineligible was made in a hurry, which also left little time (24 hours) for appeal on the part of the party. Some EAE-ANV members then claimed that a " presumption of guilt" was applied that remained to be properly proven in due time. However, EAE-ANV could take part in the elections with its legal lists, and received a grand total of some 187,000 votes (those votes for lists declared ineligible prior to the elections were declared null). Among the illegal lists were those of
Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...
, San Sebastián and Vitoria; but not those of
Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...
city council, where EAE-ANV has two representatives.


Current status

In February 2008, the Spanish government declared EAE-ANV illegal as a precautionary measure to prevent them from taking part in the year's
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
. This suspension was later on confirmed by the Spanish Supreme Court declaring EAE-ANV illegal. The case was taken by the defendants to the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
, which upheld the Spanish court rulings stating that the EAE-ANV candidatures were, in effect, a "fraud" constructed to circumvent the previous outlawing of Batasuna.Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
/ref> Despite the fact that the party was declared illegal, the court ruling was not retroactive, which meant that those elected members of EAE-ANV remained in their positions as city councilors until the next Spanish local election was held in 2011.


See also

* Basque nationalism * Baltasar Garzón *
Herri Batasuna Herri Batasuna (; ; HB) was a Far-left politics, far-left Basque nationalist coalition in Spain. It was founded in 1978 and defined itself as abertzale left, abertzale, left-wing, socialism, socialist, and supported the independence of the Basque ...
* Arantza Urkaregi


References


External links


EAE-ANV website
{{Authority control 1930 establishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community) 2008 disestablishments in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights Political parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community) Banned secessionist parties Banned socialist parties Political parties established in 1930 Political parties disestablished in 2008 Banned political parties in the Basque Country (autonomous community)