A tweet from the PSE with an AI image of Aitor Esteban sparks a crisis between the PNV and the socialists

Tension between the PNV and the Socialist Party of Euskadi, coalition partners in the Basque Government since 2016, has erupted after months of growing unease. The crisis transcends the coalition pact and has sown confusion in La Moncloa, hours after the nationalists issued a new warning to the Government over the lack of support for the rental decree. The two parties, in full tension over the debate in the regional assembly on the requirement of Basque in public service — and without an agreement for the reform of the Statute — clashed this Tuesday on social media with an exchange of messages. The PNV accused the PSE-EE of “lack of respect” after it published an artificial intelligence-created photograph of Aitor Esteban, jetzale leader, diving into a pool.

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The Basque nationalist party has suspended a meeting that it claims was going to take place “with Moncloa.” The wording used by the PNV has been a source of confusion: the socialists clarify to this newspaper that this meeting was not going to take place in the presidential palace, but rather at the PNV headquarters in Bilbao, and between the nationalists, the PSOE, and the socialist federation of Euskadi. The attendees expected at the meeting were to be, in addition to Esteban himself, the general secretary of the PSE, Eneko Andueza, his organization secretary, Miguel Ángel Morales, and, on behalf of Ferraz, Antonio Hernando, tasked by Sánchez with the relationship with the PNV. The meeting was not about any urgent matter, according to the sources consulted, but rather a follow-up, like those held periodically.

The origin of the public disagreement was a statement by Esteban in which he affirmed that his party was making progress in the negotiation of the new Statute of Autonomy. The socialists responded to this on X (formerly Twitter) with an AI-generated image of Esteban diving into a pool: “Wow! Now there’s water in the pool of the new Statute… says the PNV.” “Nothing justifies a lack of respect of this caliber. It is indecent,” the Basque party responded.

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In their publication, the Basque socialists criticized Esteban for taking advantage of the “coincidence” that his optimism with the statute coincides “with a difficult moment for his party, when they have decided to follow in the footsteps of EH Bildu, increase the requirement of Basque in public examinations and abandon recent consensuses, from two years ago, worked with the socialists.” “The defense of self-government, the defense of Basque, and the defense of the interests of Basque society as a whole deserve rigor, dedication, and generosity. With these ingredients, the PSE-EE will be the first in the task, but without partisanship or electoral calculations,” they added.

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