The PNV president, Andoni Ortuzar, confirmed the intention to negotiate with the Basque Socialist Party (PSE-EE, the regional structure of the Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE), which was the third most voted force, and he added that he is confident in an agreement.

“We have experience, I have already been in these negotiations in three legislatures, the interlocutors are old acquaintances”, he said, in statements to the media, in Bilbao, in the Basque Country, an autonomous region in the northeast of Spain.

The leader of the Basque socialists, Eneko Andueza, also said today that he wants to sit down as soon as possible to negotiate with the PNV.

The PNV claimed victory in Sunday's elections for having been the most voted, although it elected the same number of deputies as EH Bildu, a left-wing platform of separatist parties that include formations inherited from the political arms of the terrorist group ETA.

EH Bildu itself has already assumed that the new Basque government will once again be led by the nationalists, in coalition with the socialist party.

The leader of the EH Bildu candidacy, Pello Otxandiano, told Basque public radio today that there has been a “new panorama” in the region since Sunday because now there are two nationalist forces “that look each other in the eye” and a different “popular mandate”, showing availability to “collaborate and cooperate” if the new government puts a “new national agenda” and “progressive public policies” on the table.

EH Bildu had a historic result on Sunday, for the first time, after more than 40 years of democracy and autonomies in Spain, having disputed the victory of the PNV in the regional elections.

The two parties elected the same number of deputies (27), although the PNV had more votes than EH Bildu (35.22% and 32.5%, respectively).

For an absolute majority, 38 deputies are necessary in the regional parliament and only the PNV has an ally to form a governing coalition, the socialist party, which got 12 deputies and 14.21% of the votes.

The PSE-EE has always rejected the possibility of agreements with EH Bildu in the Basque Country, although in Madrid the Spanish government of socialist Pedro Sánchez has been made feasible and continues to depend on the parliamentary support of both the PNV and EH Bildu.

Eneko Andueza argued that EH Bildu leaders have never condemned ETA and that it is a party with a separatist agenda that has been disguised or even hidden.

Pello Otxandiano assured last week that the lack of understanding in the Basque Country would not jeopardize support for Sánchez in the central government, because the party does not “exchange cards” and is governed by “politics with purpose”, and the goal in Madrid “is to close the door to a possible extreme-right government”, which remains.

The PNV has always been the most voted party in the Basque regional elections and, with the exception of a three-year period between 2009 and 2012, it has also always led the autonomous government.

EH Bildu, which has the condemnation of violence with political objectives written in its statutes, was born in 2012, with the end of ETA's activity and in the context of the financial crisis, having consolidated itself over these 12 years as a party with social concerns, relegating identity issues or the independence of the Basque Country to a secondary plan.

In these elections, it benefited from a concentration of votes within the party of the electorate to the left of the socialists and managed to mobilize, especially young people.

EH Bildu and PNV (which also had more votes than in the previous elections) together got more than 72% of the deputies and the next regional parliament will be the most nationalist in the history of the Basque Country, after a campaign focused, in the essential, on socioeconomic issues and coinciding with a moment when, according to all opinion polls, the desire for independence is at a historical low among the Basques.

On the other hand, there will be fewer deputies from parties on the Spanish left in the new parliament. In addition to the 12 socialists, there will only be one from Sumar (which is in the central government of Spain with the PSOE).

The Popular Party (PP, right) elected seven deputies and Vox (far-right) one.

There are currently 31 PNV deputies in the Basque parliament, 21 from EH Bildu, 10 from the socialists, six from the PP, six from Podemos (far-left), one from VOX and one from Ciudadanos (liberal).

Also Read: Basque Country. Separatists make history, but nationalists govern (Portuguese version)