Gibraltar ‘will not give an inch’ on sovereignty

THE Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia who is on another visit to the USA has told Members of the United States Congress that Gibraltar will not cede an inch of its sovereignty, jurisdiction and control.

In addition, he has highlighted, the danger of Spain challenging the status quo by redrawing the borders of Europe at a time of so much uncertainty and instability within Europe.

In response to questions about the impact of Brexit, Dr Garcia has explained that as the UK prepares to leave the European Union, it is engaged in discussions with a number of Member States, including Spain, about Gibraltar.

The Government of Gibraltar is directly involved in those meetings that are relevant to Gibraltar he confirmed.

“It remains to be seen whether Spain can find the political goodwill to move forward with solutions that do not impact on sovereignty. We welcome such solutions but we will not give an inch on sovereignty, jurisdiction and control. It is clearly not just about sovereignty but about the attributes of sovereignty as well,” Dr Garcia said during discussions.

In addition to meeting with Republican and Democratic Members of Congress, he is also meeting officials on Capitol Hill and others in the area of foreign relations.

A considerable amount of time in these meetings with at least 20 different officials is spent countering the misinformation about Gibraltar which the Gibraltar Government contends is being put around by Spain and he understands that a number of Congressmen have received briefing papers about Gibraltar from the Spanish Embassy in Washington which are inaccurate and factually incorrect.