In recent years, it seems that the Basque Fatherland and Liberty organization, commonly known as ETA , has lost its path in Spain and is in danger of becoming obsolete. Citizens have lost sympathies for them with the emergence of more extremist violence of the al-Qaeda variety that has been underscored with the Madrid train bombings . Sympathies for the Basque cause were further weakened when European states began to cooperate in order to fight a common, transnational threat or else risk that threat exploiting the seams between countries in Europe. If one state declared an organization subversive, then a member state would be hard-pressed to look the other way at the group’s activities in the spirit of cooperation.

However, ETA has lost its steam more to the fact that their ultimate aims have not been met, and their main goals probably will never be met. Violence has not produced the anticipated results: engendering them to a sympathetic citizenry. Membership has also declined for a variety of reasons. Authorities have cracked down on leaders and key members , putting many out of commission, others lost their taste for the insurgency or preferred to pursue other political methods that the Spanish government seemed more willing to listen to.