Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference announced "definitive cessation of its armed activity". They said they were ending their 43-year armed campaign for independence and called on Spain and France to open talks. The Spanish government insisted that it will not negotiate on demands for Basque self-determination until ETA disbands. Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero described ETA's announcement as "a victory for democracy, law and reason". Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference The International Conference to Promote the Resolution of the Conflict in the Basque Country — more widely known as the Donostia-San Sebastián International Peace Conference — was a conference aimed at promoting a
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero a serious environmental damage and that in 2003, 14 times more water reached the sea than what was needed annually). The scheme, finally approved by the Government, was canceled by Zapatero soon after becoming Prime Minister. Zapatero was the main proponent of the "Pacto de las Libertades contra el Terrorismo" ("Anti Terrorist Freedom pact) which was signed on 8 December 2000. At the end of the year, the Mad Cow disease came back into the spotlight after its outbreak in 1996. Zapatero repeatedly criticized the Government's management of the crisis arguing that it was out of control. As of March