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Lehendakari Urkullu addressed Basques around the world on the occasion of Christmas, stressing the importance of their contribution made in their dual capacity as citizens rooted in the country in which they live and carry out their day-to-day lives, and as a members of the community made up of Basques and descendants of Basques who maintain and cultivate the feeling and the bond of attachment to their country and culture of origin.  Urkullu specifically mentioned tghe relevance of the Basque Country Strategy and announced the 6th World Congress of Basque Collectivities to be held in the fall of 2015 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. 

Vitoria-Gasteiz.  Here is the Lehendakari’s Christmas message addressed to Basques and the Basque community abroad.

Vitoria-Gasteiz, December 2014

Lagun agurgarriak,

On my recent official visit to Mexico, I was again able to personally verify the sense of shared belonging and the vitality of the Basque community in the world. I met people who are rooted and integrated into the country where they live, but who also keep up the sentimental and emotional ties with their country of origin, the Basque Country.

The mission of the Basque Government and the Lehendakari is to develop ties between the Basque community of origin and the Basque community abroad, to reinforce this enriching sense of shared belonging. We do it by working with the 187 Basque Centres - Euskal Etxeak, Basque Clubs or Maisons Basques in 25 countries around the world. In the autumn of 2015, we will have an opportunity to get together at the 6th World Congress of Basque Communities Abroad, which will be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

We live in an increasingly open global world in which the Basque Country aims to have presence, recognition and a voice. This is the goal of the internationalization plan for Euskadi, "Basque Country Strategy". The Basque Government is working to strengthen the position of Euskadi in the institutional, economic and cultural field in this globalized world. It is an internationalisation plan for our country which has the support of Basque communities abroad, because you are the best Basque embassy in the world.

Our mission is to continue the exemplary path of those of you who for decades have kept the flame of the Basque community abroad alive. Today we have a capacity for self-government that we want to preserve and improve; we want to continue to grow day by day as a nation with our model for the institutionalization and construction of the Basque Country. To achieve this we need your participation and collaboration, because the future of our country is global.

In this vision of the future, the year 2020 is highlighted in red in our government calendar. It represents the horizon when we must respond to the three major challenges our country faces: economic recovery and job creation, the consolidation of Peace and reconstruction of Coexistence and the ratification of a New Political Status in the future that will mean we can move forward in self-government and have the recognition of Euskadi as a Nation.

These are the objectives where we need your participation. We are aware that the growth potential of the Basque Country is associated with further and better establishment of our country in the world. The reality that surrounds us tells us that the present is now global and that the future will be global to an even greater extent. This change is evident and has only just begun. The global market requires a direct and active presence, so the internationalization of our project is the key to our future as a Country. 

I propose that we face the New Year in 2015 with the challenge of recovering the idea of "Basque Unity" proposed by the Lehendakari José Antonio Aguirre. If we do, we will also be ambassadors worldwide for a Basque Country that is productive, developed, caring and peaceful. It is worthwhile for us to strengthen the chain that unites us with our culture and traditions. It is worthwhile for us to reaffirm our unity as a Basque community in the world. It is worthwhile for us to make the effort to adapt so that our country is not diluted amid the global tide. It is worthwhile for us to share the "Basque Country Strategy" so that our nation remains a living, active reference, with personality and future in this global world.

This Christmas time, as Lehendakari of Euskadi, I send a warm embrace and wish you the very best for the New Year; Gabon zoriontsuak eta Urte berri on!

Iñigo Urkullu Renteria

- The message on Euskaletxeak.net, in Basque
- The message on Euskaletxeak.net, in Spanish
- The message on Euskaletxeak.net, in French
- The message on Euskaletxeak.net, in English