Spain has rejected as totally inadequate the declaration of a ceasefire by Basque separatists ETA, saying the group should abandon violence forever."ETA has to renounce violence completely forever," said Spain's Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba on Monday, AFP reported.
"We are not going to change a dot or a comma in our anti-terrorist policy. What we want is for ETA to renounce violence. So long as it does not break with violence it will not be admitted into institutions."
ETA's victims and political parties have also urged the group to surrender its arms and disband.
ETA, which is blamed for hundreds of deaths in its long fight for independence, vowed in a video statement published on Sunday "not to carry out armed actions" anymore.
There is skepticism in Spain about the proposed ceasefire.
The government maintains that ETA had no other way but to declare a ceasefire. It argues that dozens of ETA members, including some leaders, have been detained while the group has lost a main logistical base in Portugal, leading to its current weakening position.
"ETA is stopping because it can't go on any more," he said.