The British Government reaffirmed its commitment to trilateral dialogue, despite claims from Spain that London and Madrid would discuss the waters row on bilateral terms leaving Gibraltar aside. A spokesman for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office said trilateral dialogue was the only acceptable mechanism for “formal” talks about Gibraltar.
A Spanish warship made a two-hour incursion into Gibraltar waters on Monday evening, in a defiant response to Britain’s warnings to stay away. The incursion came just hours after the British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, told the House of Commons that Britain would take “a grave view” of any violation of British sovereignty in Gibraltar waters.
The British Government said on Thursday that “no options should be ruled out” in defending the British sovereignty of Gibraltar’s territorial waters, reports the Gibraltar Chronicle.
The Union of European Football Associations, UEFA, has included Gibraltar in the Futsal qualifiers for the Euro 2013 Cup to be played in France next month and in the U17 and U19 tournaments to be disputed beginning next autumn. This is considered a remarkable step for Gibraltar’s football on the Uefa/GFA ‘road map’
Gibraltar Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo held a meeting on Monday with UK Minister for Europe David Lidington in which they discussed their concerns over Spain’s purporting to pass legislation banning land reclamation and the offshore storage of fuel in Gibraltar waters.
British Government has lost a crucial appeal before the European Court of Justice [ECJ] relating to Gibraltar’s territorial waters. Britain was seeking to overturn an earlier judgement dismissing its legal challenge to the European Commission’s approval of a Spanish EU nature site in British waters.
Spain’s decision to pull out of the trilateral process was formally recorded in the consensus decision on Gibraltar adopted by the United Nations General Assembly this year.
UK has dismissed a comment by Spain’s Foreign Minister suggesting that Britain and Spain were poised to reach a bilateral solution to the fishing dispute. Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Spain was open to dialogue and that he and his British counterpart, William Hague, “talk a lot” about many issues, including Gibraltar
There was a marked escalation in the dispute over Gibraltar’s territorial waters as Britain and Spain both hardened their diplomatic stance in the wake of recent incursions.
The Foreign Office summoned the Spanish ambassador in London and condemned Madrid’s ‘provocative incursions’ in Gibraltar waters saying that it “is in the interests of Spain, as well as Gibraltar and Britain, to avoid any incident that may damage the prospects of developing a harmonious and collaborative relationship between Gibraltar and Spain”.