Patriotic Socialist Union

Patriotic Socialist Union

Batasuna (English: Unity, originally Herri Batasuna or "Unity of the People") was a Basque nationalist political party based mainly in Spain, where it was outlawed in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money.

The party is included in the "European Union list of terrorist persons and organizations" as a component of ETA. Right after having been banned, Batasuna still managed to organize or support some rallies, public actions and several workplace strikes. The Spanish ruling was appealed before and, later on, confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights.

As an association and not as a political party, Batasuna had a minor presence in the French Basque country, where it remained legal as "Batasuna" until its self-dissolution in January 2013.

Batasuna's ranks and support base have been represented under different names since it was first declared legal in the late 1970s with the Spanish Transition to democracy. Thus, Batasuna's predecessors were the original Herri Batasuna and, then, Euskal Herritarrok. After having been outlawed in 2003, Batasuna's core support revamped yet again by co-opting the thus far marginal parties EHAK and Acción Nacionalista Vasca (ANV).

Batasuna was a part of the Basque National Liberation Movement which includes social organizations, trade unions, youth (Jarrai and Gazteriak, now merged in Haika and Segi), and women's groups (Egizan). Jarrai-Haika-Segi, Gestoras pro-Amnistia, Askatasuna and other groups closely related to Batasuna were also declared illegal by different court rulings on the same charges of having collaborated with or being part of ETA.