Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

World

Basque nationalists launch political party in north Spain after court ruling

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • Spain Basques
    Image 1 of 3

    Hasier Arraiz, front, president of the new pro independence Basque party, Sortu, gestures during the inaugural congress, in Pamplona northern Spain on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Sortu was launched formally Saturday, eight months after the Constitutional Court said Sortu could come into existence because it was different to the outlawed Batasuna.(AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) (The Associated Press)

  • 0193cad4-Spain Basques
    Image 2 of 3

    Members of the new pro independence Basque party, Sortu, sing the International song during the inaugural congress, in Pamplona northern Spain on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Sortu was launched formally Saturday, eight months after the Constitutional Court said Sortu could come into existence because it was different to the outlawed Batasuna. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) (The Associated Press)

  • a91f2e45-Spain Basques
    Image 3 of 3

    The portrait of Arnaldo Otegi, imprisoned since 2009 for his collaboration with the Basque armed group ETA and honorary leader of the new pro independence Basque party Sortu, is seen on a giant screen during the inaugural congress of Sortu, in Pamplona northern Spain on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. Sortu was launched formally Saturday, eight months after the Constitutional Court said Sortu could come into existence because it was different to the outlawed Batasuna.(AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos) (The Associated Press)

PAMPLONA, Spain – Basque politicians have launched a nationalist party after Spain's highest court ruled it could be established because it was not directly linked to the militant separatist group ETA.

Sortu was launched formally Saturday, eight months after the Constitutional Court said it could come into existence because it was different from ETA's banned political wing, Batasuna.

At its inaugural congress, Hasier Arraiz was confirmed as president and a letter from imprisoned general secretary Arnaldo Otegi was read out.

Otegi is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted in 2009 of trying to resurrect Batasuna.

Otegi's letter said the Spanish and French states "continue to deny the status as a nation of the Basque country" and continue to "deny its right to self-determination."