Madrid , Spain ( CNN ) -- The Basque separatist group ETA said Monday it was declaring a permanent cease-fire . In a statement released to the Basque newspaper Gara -- where it typically releases information -- ETA said it declares a permanent general and verifiable cease-fire as a `` firm commitment towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and toward an end to the armed confrontation . '' Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said that the statement that the government wants to see is one where ETA calls for a definitive end , which he said the statement does not do . `` Am I more tranquil today than before ? Yes , '' Perez said . `` Is this the end ? I would say no . '' Spain 's Socialist government has repeatedly called for ETA to announce unilaterally a definitive end to its decades of separatist violence , blamed for more than 800 deaths , and a pledge to lay down its weapons . ETA wants Basque independence in northern Spain and southwest France . Various Basque leftist parties -- including the Batasuna party , outlawed for its links to ETA -- as well as four Nobel peace laureates and the Nelson Mandela Foundation also have called in recent months for the organization to establish a permanent and verifiable cease-fire . The Batasuna party 's ban from running candidates in municipal elections will not be lifted because of ETA 's statement , the interior minister said . The latest statement comes after weeks of speculation in Spain that ETA would issue a statement during the holiday season . `` It is time to act with historical responsibility . ETA calls upon those governing Spain and France to end all repressive measures and to leave aside for once and for all their position of denial towards the Basque Country , '' the statement said . Another part of the message said , `` The solution will come through the democratic process with dialogue and negotiation as its tools and with its compass pointed towards the will of the Basque people . '' `` ETA will continue its indefatigable struggle and efforts to promote and to bring to a conclusion the democratic process until there is a truly democratic situation in the Basque Country , '' it added . The organization has announced cease-fires before and broken them , notably its unilateral 2006 cease-fire that was announced as `` permanent , '' only to be broken months later with a car bomb at Madrid 's airport that killed two people . Despite ETA 's current cease-fire , in effect since September , the government has not eased up on the police pressure against ETA operatives in Spain and the organization 's hideouts in neighboring France and Portugal . In the past few years , police have arrested many of ETA 's suspected top operatives , as well as many of its foot soldiers , and seized bomb-making materials and weapons from hidden arms caches , virtually shutting off ETA attacks . There are about 800 ETA convicts or suspects in prison , mainly in Spain but also in France , the Interior Ministry said recently . ETA 's statement comes two days after a march Saturday in the largest Basque city , Bilbao , by relatives and friends of the prisoners . They want the prisoners transferred to jails in the Basque region instead of being dispersed across Spain , which authorities have said is done for security purposes . ETA is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union for its campaign of car bombings and shootings . The Spanish government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero began a peace process in 2006 during ETA 's earlier unilateral cease-fire , but after the organization detonated an airport bomb , the government called off negotiations . Since then , officials of Zapatero 's government have said they would not accept another cease-fire , only a definitive statement from ETA that it would end its armed fight , and specifying when and where it would lay down its arms forever . The Basque region in northern Spain already has considerable home-rule authority , with its own police , parliament , taxing power and control of health and education . But ETA rejects those as partial steps , and has fought for full independence . ETA 's goal is an independent Basque nation comprising the three-province Basque region and the neighboring Navarra region in Spain , along with three departments in southwest France that also have Basque roots . About 3 million people live in those areas now . Officials have said that in recent years , ETA has become weaker and more isolated from its traditional base of popular support .
The Basque nationalist group Navarre has announced and broken other cease - fires . It seeks independence for Basques in northern Spain and southwest France . About 200 ETA convicts or suspects are being held in Navarre , officials say .