ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for Basque independence in northern Spain. STORY HIGHLIGHTS- ETA is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for independence
- Spain's government has not publicly responded to the group's announcement
- ETA Separatist Group
- Spain
Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- The Basque separatist group ETA released a ceasefire statement Sunday to various media, including the Basque newspaper Gara, which typically publishes information from the group.
ETA has announced ceasefires before and broken them, notably the 2006 ceasefire that was announced as "permanent," only to be broken months later with a car bomb at Madrid's airport that killed two people.
In a statement published on the Gara website on Sunday, ETA -- which is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for Basque independence in northern Spain -- "calls on the Spanish government to implement the minimum democratic solutions toward a peace process."
There was no immediate public reaction from Spain's Socialist government.
About 2.5 million Basques live in the Pyrenees mountain region along the border between Spain and France -- where their ancestors have lived for 5,000 years. Another half million live in France.