MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar: Spain emphasizes dialogue.

Spain seeks to build a future of shared coexistence with Gibraltar which Gibraltarians are comfortable with. This was the message from the Spanish Government in its statement to the United Nations Fourth Committee on Decolonization, delivered last week shortly after the session was addressed by Chief Minister Peter Caruana and Opposition Leader Joe Bossano.

The Spanish delegate recalled the statements made to the UN General Assembly by Spanish Premier Jose Rodriguez Zapatero where he said that Spain continues to have the will to negotiate and to find "a solution that benefits the region as a whole and listens to the voice of Gibraltar."

Equally he referred to the article by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos' from last August setting out his government's approach to the Gibraltar question. This encompassed the creation of "virtuous circles" and the promotion of regional co-operation on the basis that Gibraltar must conform to EU norms. He also highlighted Spain's desire to establish direct contact with Gibraltarians and civil society in Gibraltar.

"It is an obvious fact that a profound negotiation on issues of sovereignty cannot develop adequately in an atmosphere of confrontation, even if this is only because Gibraltarians should participate in these, with the adequate formula, if it is going to have any practical value." The spokesman said that the Spanish Government wants to dedicate the necessary time to this "seeking that those things that unite us dominate over the tension of that which separates us or puts us in confrontation." However, he added that Spain will nonetheless continue to firmly defend its stand where reason and justice are on its side, although dialogue is preferable to pointless

confrontation. The Spanish spokesman went on to reject the idea of referring the issue to the International Court of Justice saying this had been raised and rejected in the 1960s and reiterating the view that the Gibraltar problem is "essentially a political problem".

To do otherwise would be to go astray from what should be the main objective of the existing process, he said. That, he said, was precisely what Spain and the United Kingdom were doing, in compliance with the mandate of the Assembly.

UK response.

Britain, in exercise of the right of reply to the statement of Spain about Gibraltar, said the long-standing position of the British Government on the matter was well-known. UK would continue to stand by its commitment to the people of Gibraltar as enshrined in the preamble of the 1969 constitution of Gibraltar, which required the consent of those people to any change in sovereignty.

Related issues could be resolved only through dialogue, with the aim of a better future for the people of Gibraltar, said the spokesman.