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President of the central government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, outlined the outcome of the meeting by saying that both rulers are responsible for "two governments and a common anti-terrorism policy." Moreover, Zapatero described López as "the Lehendakari of change and hope in the Basque Country."

Zapatero and the Lehendakari appeared together in the gardens of the Moncloa palace in Madrid after a two-hour meeting.

Both Zapatero and López spoke about the demonstration that took place in Bilbao after the assassination of Eduardo Puelles. They pledged for the "unity of the democratic parties against ETA."

In fact, the Basque PM said that a "board of political parties" might be created after the round of contacts with the Basque formations, as the Popular Party proposed. Nevertheless, he warned that the idea might be ruled out is there is any "conflict."

In addition to the fight against ETA, supporting the victims, joining democrats, and not leaving space for the violent and those who support them at the institutions, the two leaders have agreed to renovate the transport infrastructure in the Basque Country, the high speed train among them. Zapatero also pledged to speed up the matter of the pending transfers in order to develop the Statute of Gernika.

In Zapatero''s words, the fact that the Basque Country now has a socialist PM has created problems for the PSOE in Madrid, where the nationalists no longer have the Basque Nationalist Party-PNV as an ally in Congress. The Spanish president showed his respect for the nationalists but also said that "these difficulties worth it."