MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
UK reaffirms sovereignty over Gibraltar territorial waters following incident with the Guardia Civil
David Lidington said he is “shocked by the disgraceful behaviour of the Spanish Guardia Civil” The UK reaffirmed sovereignty over Gibraltar and Gibraltar territorial waters following an incident with the Spanish Guardia Civil which detained two Gibraltar British Nationals in British jurisdiction and transferred them to Spain.
Foreign Office Minister for Europe David Lidington said he is “shocked by the disgraceful behaviour of the Spanish Guardia Civil,” following the reports of the two hour detention of a Gibraltar boat.
“The (UK) Government will be making it clear to Spain that such action, on the part of the law enforcement agencies of a EU Partner and NATO Ally, is intolerable and unlawful”, said the Foreign Office official.
“The British Government remains confident of our Sovereignty of Gibraltar and British Gibraltar Territorial Waters. Our position is clear. The UK will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another State against their wishes. Furthermore, the UK will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.”
A Foreign Office statement said: “At around 2330 local time on Friday night the Spanish Guardia Civil intercepted a local Gibraltarian sports fishing boat approximately 200 meters off the coast of Gibraltar. The two Gibraltarian British Nationals were detained and transferred to Algeciras in Spain. The British Nationals and their boat were released without charge at approximately 0200 – although some fishing equipment was held in Spain.
”This action comes in the context of an ongoing disagreement between the Gibraltarian authorities and a group of local Spanish fishermen who want to fish in BGTW in contravention of Gibraltarian law. Throughout this period British and Gibraltarian agencies have sought to respond in a calm and professional manner and the Chief Minister has instituted talks between the Gibraltarian authorities and the fishermen to work to resolve the situation. There has been no arrest or detention of any Spanish national or Spanish boat. The actions of the Guardia Civil in detaining Gibraltarian British Nationals in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters are a provocative escalation and contrary to international law”.
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Read all commentsYou talk to much,
Jul 24th, 2012 - 04:10 pm 0And beginning to sound like CFK and Spain,
We are confident,
Its provocative
Once again, we send the wrong message,
We are weak to weak to defend what is ours,
Send an apache gunship
[No it might offend someone]
Send the royal navy
[Oh no it might be provocative]
Send a sub,
[Oh no, it might be seen as militarising the waters]
Send the RAF,
[Oh no people might complain of the noise]
Send the fxcking army,
[Oh no, it might abuse the rights of the Spanish]
Put simply,
Stop talking and fxcking back it up, or shut up, you’re embarrassing us,
But if it happened in French or American or even Angolan waters,
Boy wouldn’t the Spanish been put in there place,
But we are just a law abiding peaceful nation now, and has no wish to offended our ally,
[But really the truth is]
We have nothing left in the fridge, its either been sold, out of date,
Or put in the bin,]
Shhhhhhhhhh bu don’t t tell anyone,
We don’t want the world to know the conservatives have fxcked it all up,
Just my opinion, just my point .
dont likey,,, dont read
Spain is rapidly going down the plug hole, not only did they need their banks bailing out by the EMF, the country now needs a bail out. It's no coincidence these incidents are beginning to arise. It's deflection, they have learnt from their brethren accross the Atlantic that it plays out well with population after bad news, like the WWF dropping their king as a patron because he is quite partial to shooting Elephants in cold blood. It's all a well rehearsed ploy the Hispanic/Iberians excell in. It may be a better idea to show them for what they are as opposed to using the big stick, for now anyway.
Jul 24th, 2012 - 05:26 pm 0Gibraltar really should have full independent nation status. They won't do what the UK government suggests they do, which is sort of fair enough.
Jul 24th, 2012 - 06:05 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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