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Nabarralde | Nabarra Papers
Navarre
Is the Pathway To Basque Statehood
Journalist
Fermin Munarriz interviewed Tomas Urzainki Mina, a Navarrese historian
and lawyer. The interview was published in the Basque daily Egin. This
is a translation by Olatz Arkauz for Euskal Herria Journal.
Tomas Urzainki is one
of the signatories of the manifesto "A united Navarre" which was presented
during the celebrations of the Nafarroaren Eguna (Navarrese
National Day) in Baigorri. In Urzainki's opinion, this event is a national
meeting place because "we are all Basques, and we are all Navarrese."
A jurist, historian,
and former vicepresident of the Eusko Ikaskuntza (Basque studies)
in Navarre, Urzainki says there is only one Navarre
divided into two states, France and Spain. The artificial
borderline in the map, says Urzainki, has not been able to nullify the
social and cultural, and even political, relations among the inhabitants
of Navarre in both sides of the Pyrenees.
Question:
What are the implications of a manifesto for the unity of Navarre?
Answer:
At this particular moment, the importance of the manifesto derives from
the end of a milenium, in which progress is being made at a universal
and a European level to give sovereignty solutions to the problems of
the oppressed minorities or minorities that have endured a lasting occupation
and dominance, especially the case of the nations of Western Europe
which maybe the ones that have been left behind with respect to the
processes followed by other nations without states in other parts of
Europe. The manifest is an affirmation of a unity that remains in spite
of the obstacles imposed by the multi-national states, the Spanish as
well as the French.
Q:
Are you in favor of one Navarre?
A:
Yes, of course. We should recover the juridico-political
concept of Navarre within the boundaries of Euskal
Herria, because it is the pathway to Basque statehood. In a
process of loosing a political sovereignty, Navarre is the best
spinal column to a stable reference for a future.
Q: What
is the basic principle of this unity among the people in both sides
of Navarre?
A:
The relationship always has been strong. On the one side, the
institutional unity that once existed and that constant political
unity. In 1512, when that unity was broken by the occupation
of Upper-Navarre (Nafarroa Garaia) by Castile, Lower-Navarre
(Nafarroa Beherea) maintained its sovereignty until 1620, when
Louis XIII of France annexed the kingdom of Navarre
(Lower-Navarre) to the French crown. The annexation
notwithstanding Lower-Navarre kept its own institutions and
laws which were the same national institutions for the entire
Navarrese kingdom.
Q:
What effects the administrative division has had on these relations?
A: The
effects have been very negative given that from the XVI century onwards,
important obstacles had to be overcome by the policy of confrontation
that these two powers, France and Spain, had and, therefore, the two
Navarrese territories saw themselves subdue to the different interests
of these two occupying forces, which notably damaged the relations among
the two Navarres and, of course, in a greater measure, the other territories
near that artificial borderline. In spite of that political division,
the relations have been maintained to this day. The social, human and
community relations, as well as family ties, are proverbial. In this
sense, although the states tried to consolidate these differences, they
were not able to do it. The relations are there, and which today are
called transborder relations, which in reality are the relations of
a people divided by an artificial borderline.
Q:
How are these relations today?
A: At
a grassroot level, they are good. They manifest themselves through culture
and sports... and they are important. There is an interchange among
the people in both sides. And without any doubt, the people in Lower-Navarre
do not miss the San Fermin festivities because to be in Irunea [Pamplone]
is to be in their city capital, which is a reference to their collective
identity.
The unity of
Euskal Herria
Q: Is
the unity of the north and the south of Navarre a starting point for
achieving the unity of Euskal Herria?
A:
Evidently. This could be a unity of a cultural type, and a socio-political
unity but a true unity, is one that is socio-politico-cultural, which
would embrace all aspects. A unity that is only cultural would be unthinkable
in the sense that it would be inefficient. In order to come out of that
situation to which it has been arrived and that is primitive, customary
and diminishing in all aspects with respect to the systems of this country,
there is no other remedy but to make progress towards a socio-political
unity. It is a democratic demand and it is set right by the implementation
of human rights.
Q:
In that sense, could the Nafarroaren Eguna be considered as a meeting
place for all Basque?
A:
Certainly, yes; if it's understood that we are all Basques and that
we are all Navarrese. We are all Basques as an expression of our common
cultural heritage, that is, linguistically; a civil right. On the other
hand, we are all Navarrese as a juridico-political expression of citizenship,
of identity, of belonging to a political entity, to a stateliness which
at this time is reduced but that it should recover its fullness. It
is not about building castles in the air but exercising sovereignty
on a firm foundation, on a stateliness which once was in full swing.
We should recover the administrative-political jurisdiction as a stepping
stone towards full jurisdiction. That is the secure and reliable road
to be taken.
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