MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gibraltar to UN: political deal against our wishes is democratically unsustainable

Chief Minister Caruana praised Moratinos visit to the Rock

Gibraltar is politically, administratively and legislatively a self-governing country, Chief Minister Peter Caruana said Wednesday night during his address to the United Nations Fourth Committee in New York, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.

Caruana also stated that the idea that the Rock's future status could be subject of a political deal by two other countries (Britain and Spain) “above our heads and against our wishes is frankly obscene and democratically unsustainable”.

And he further challenged Spain to take its sovereignty claim to the International Court of Justice if it believed it had a legal case based in international law.

Caruana said that Gibraltar's political future could only be decided in accordance with the freely expressed wishes of the Gibraltarians, while the contrary view that this should be done by others against our will “is not compatible or consistent with basic principles and values of democracy and human rights.”

He argued that the Spanish sovereignty claim was based on a misconception of principle and a distortion of fact.

Referring to the consensus decision on the Gibraltar question by Britain and Spain calling on both countries “to resolve their differences in a bilateral process between them”, Mr Caruana said that not only did such a process represent “an unsustainable democratic deficit,” but reflects neither the true position that exists, nor a consensus that includes both UK and Spain.

“There is no such consensus even between them, let alone with us,” he declared.

He said the Brussels Process that lies at its core “does not exist,” and that it had not met since 2001 because UK said it would no longer participate in it ”to discuss our sovereignty (with Spain) without Gibraltar's consent“.

The Chief Minister noted the words to this effect by the UK representative in the Fourth Committee last year who had described the process as ”unviable and defunct,“ and called on the committee to take better account of the modern relationship between the UK and Gibraltar ”which clearly reflects the wishes of the people of Gibraltar”.

Caruana also spoke about the Tripartite Forum (UK, Spain and Gibraltar) stating that it was the only viable and meaningful way forward on Gibraltar issues for the three sides. He also applauded the political commitment towards it shown by Spanish Foreign Secretary Miguel Angel Moratinos with his “historic and unprecedented” visit to the Rock in the summer.

Mr Caruana also recorded the Gibraltar Government's enduring commitment to a Forum, which he said, ”continues to generate good agreements on many important issues and to bring about very significant improvements in (cross-border) relations“.

However Mr Caruana also noted recent problems with Spain regarding Gibraltar's territorial waters and litigation within the EU to undermine the Rock, actions which are ”unnecessarily provocative and endanger this new process.“

He said it was ”counterproductive to the work of the Forum for Spain to continue to adopt unnecessarily belligerent stances towards Gibraltar in other matters.“ And although not expecting Spain to drop its sovereignty claim, Mr Caruana said the Gibraltar Government expected behaviour that is ”compatible and consistent with the stated and shared objectives and spirit of the Forum.”

As regards decolonisation, the Chief Minister argued that this was no longer a pending issue, pointing to the enactment of the new constitution.

He added that nobody who visits the Rock and observes its society and self government can objectively think that Gibraltar remains a colony.