MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
“No way José”, Gibraltar replies to Spain's shared sovereignty with UK proposal
Chief Minister Fabian Picardo sent a clear message to Spain's acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo: “No way Jose!” 
Spain formally invited the United Kingdom to open negotiations for joint sovereignty on Gibraltar, which it says would include continued EU membership. 
Amb. Oyarzun Marchesi told UN 4th Committee that UK/Spain co-sovereignty would maintain the socioeconomic wellbeing of Gibraltar and the Campo area. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said that all the potential economic benefits from joint UK/Spain Gibraltar sovereignty could exist today if Spain respected the Gibraltarians' choice not to be Spanish. The statement was in response to Spain's formal invitation to the UK to commence joint sovereignty negotiations on Gibraltar.
CM Picardo said Spain's offer to the UK to start bilateral negotiations was a “blatant attempt” to use the UN's decolonization process to turn Gibraltar into a Spanish colony, using Brexit to redraw the map of modern Europe.
He sent a clear message to Spain's acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo: “No way Jose!”
Spain formally invited the United Kingdom to open negotiations for joint sovereignty on Gibraltar, which it says would include continued EU membership.
Spanish Ambassador Román Oyarzun Marchesi told the United Nations 4th Committee that UK/Spain co-sovereignty would maintain the socioeconomic wellbeing of Gibraltar and the Campo area, which would include continued EU membership for the Rock.
Spain's Permanent Representative to the United Nations said Gibraltarians would have the option of dual nationality under joint sovereignty, and also continued EU citizenship.
He said Gibraltarians would keep their EU rights under joint sovereignty, specifically free movement of labor and capital. He said their proposal would “unblock” EU legislation on issues including aviation and the environment.
Spain's representative said the “disappearance” of frontier would benefit the economy, which would be accompanied by investment in the Campo area.
However in an address broadcast live by GBC, CM Picardo again invited Spain to restart talks under the Trilateral Forum for Dialogue, which – he said – replaced the bilateral Brussels process. He said trilateral talks would allow all parties to address matters of genuine mutual concern.
The Chief Minister also renewed the invitation to the United Nations to send a mission to the Rock to carry out objective fact-finding.
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Read all commentsIf the conquistadors got hold of Gibraltar they'd be an exodus of business to the detriment of everyone, the thuggish Spanish police would bully 30,000 British subjects and without the border every mugger, burglar and thief in the adjoining poverty stricken part of Spain would bring the crime rate up to Spanish levels.
Oct 05th, 2016 - 02:49 pm +1Gibraltar will never be Spanish.
Joint sovereignty, why?
Oct 05th, 2016 - 11:43 am 0When there is no legitimate sovereignty claim -https://www.academia.edu/10575180/Gibraltar_-_Some_Relevant_International_Law
The same pitch as the Spanish have been touting round EU capitals, it’s frankly much more important how much support they get there, than in this irrelevant, fundamentally flawed and completely dysfunctional committee.
Oct 05th, 2016 - 12:30 pm 0Commenting for this story is now closed.
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