JAVIER ZARZALEJOS PARTICIPATES IN THE MIGUEL ÁNGEL BLANCO SUMMER SCHOOL

On July 8 and 9, Javier Zarzalejos participated in the Summer School that New Generations and the Popular Group in the European Parliament organize annually on the occasion of the anniversary of the kidnapping and murder by ETA of the former Popular Party councilor in the municipality of Ermua, Miguel Ángel Blanco.

This year marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the assassination of Miguel Ángel Blanco, which made these conferences more emotional and loaded with great symbolism.

During the first day, held at the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao, the Basque MEP was one of the speakers, together with Laura Garrido, Elias Bendodo and Sandra Fernández, at the round table “Spain and Europe, XXV years: How have we changed ?”.

During his speech, Zarzalejos recalled how those three days were lived from the presidency of the Spanish government: how they received the news of the kidnapping, the demonstration they led in Bilbao and the discovery of Miguel Ángel’s body still alive.

Zarzalejos assured that, although sometimes we are not aware, the kidnapping of Miguel Ángel changed the history of Spain. The “enemies of democracy” signed the “Pact of Estella” which led to the open declaration of their intention to persecute non-nationalists. On the other hand, the members of the Popular Party, as a party and as a community, made us decide that it was possible to defeat ETA using all the means of the rule of law.