Spain has to change their treatment towards Gibraltar and as Nato ally needs to show respect for maritime laws!

Spain has to change their treatment towards Gibraltar and as Nato ally needs to show respect for maritime laws!

Just when one thought Spain was behaving and was doing at least less incursions in Our British Gibraltar Territorial Waters - lo and behold they do a dangerous stunt!

Not one but TWO Spanish State Vessels enter our British Territorial Waters in the DARK wit no navigational LIGHTS! How can they be allowed to do this and face no consequences?

LET US HOPE THAT THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL NEVER GIVE A SEAT TO SPAIN!

I am sure the United Nations Security would not take this so lightly if it were to other countries so why on earth is it acceptable for Spain to do this to us!

“The vessels were a serious risk to maritime safety around the Bay of Gibraltar and jeopardised not only the safety of the Customs and Guardia Civil vessels and officers, but other vessels and seamen in the area,”

Our United Kingdom Government - Our Governor Sir James Dutton and Our Foreign Commonwealth Office really need to start to do their job and protect the integrity of our British Territorial Waters!

It is unacceptable that nothing is done and only words are said! I do believe that our UK Government and the FCO and our Governor are actually waiting until an accident or worse still a death occurs before they do what they are all paid to do!

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Chronicle - http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=32527

Spanish voyage in the dark posed ‘serious maritime risk’

 The British Government will raise safety concerns with Spain after two Spanish state vessels sailed through British waters without navigational lights.
The absence of light contravened international collision regulations and posed a serious risk at sea, officials said.
 “The vessels were a serious risk to maritime safety around the Bay of Gibraltar and jeopardised not only the safety of the Customs and Guardia Civil vessels and officers, but other vessels and seamen in the area,” one source told the Chronicle.
The first incident involved a Spanish Customs vessel and occurred on Saturday.
The second involved the Guardia Civil vessel Rio Tormes and occurred in the early hours of Monday morning.
On both occasions, the Royal Navy used Channel 16 on the VHF radio to instruct the vessels to switch on navigational lights but they remained off.
“The two unlawful incidents by the Spanish Customs and Guardia Civil vessels during night hours over the weekend posed a risk to maritime safety around the Bay of Gibraltar,” a spokesman for the Foreign Office told the Chronicle.
“Her Majesty’s Government will be making a formal diplomatic protest to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
The International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea state specifically that a power driven vessel is required to show lights between sunset and sunrise.
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The Telegraph says it all - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/gibraltar/10582854/Britain-is-not-doing-enough-to-defend-Gibraltar-says-shadow-Europe-minister.html#pd_a_7299324

Britain is not doing enough to defend Gibraltar, says shadow Europe minister

William Hague should ask the European Commission to publish a letter they sent to Madrid, which Gareth Thomas says details "concerns about the heavy handed nature of controls on the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar"

Union flag flies at Europa Point in front of the Rock (rear), a monolithic limestone promontory, and the Ibrahim-al-Ibrahim mosque in Gibraltar Photo: REUTERS

By Harriet Alexander

Gibraltar is a territory "under siege" and Spain should be made to account for its actions in relation to The Rock, the shadow minister for Europe has said.

Gareth Thomas, the Labour MP for Harrow West, said that residents of Gibraltar were concerned that Britain was not doing enough to defend them from Spanish harassment. The past 12 months have seen the highest ever number of incursions by Spanish ships into Gibraltar's waters, with the almost double the incidents from 2012.

"I was struck by the sense that the Gibraltarians have of being under siege," said Mr Thomas, who visited Gibraltar in November. "Spanish ships are coming into their waters on a regular basis."

Ahead of a debate in the House of Lords on Monday, Mr Thomas has written to William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, to call for him to press the European Commission to take further action. The Commission visited Gibraltar over the summer, to inspect the border after weeks of particularly long queues at the frontier.

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In Chronicle - http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=32529

Spain ‘changes tempo’ over incursions

by Brian Reyes

 

 

 A drop in the number of incursions by Spanish state vessels into British Gibraltar territorial waters could signal “a slight change in attitude” in Madrid, a British Government minister said yesterday.

The observation was made during a question and answer session in the House of Lords in which there was evident cross-party support for Gibraltar in the face of pressure from Spain.
 Conservative peer Baroness Warsi, senior Minister of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, said there had been a sharp rise in incursions over the past two years, rising from 23 in 2011 to 228 in 2012 and 509 last year. “The good news is that there has been a welcome reduction since December of last year and therefore this may mean that there is a slight change in attitude,” she said.
Baroness Warsi was responding to a question from Labour peer and Gibraltar Freeman Lord Hoyle, who asked her about the British Government’s response to the incursions and persistent queues at the border.
The minister reeled off a long list of contacts between senior ministers and their Spanish counterparts - all the way up to Prime Minister himself – going back several months.
She repeated the standard line that Britain remained confident the Gibraltar waters were British “as sovereignty flows from land”.
She also insisted that Britain considered the border checks to be “…disproportionate, politically motivated and therefore unlawful under EU law.”
Baroness Warsi was quizzed by Lords from both sides of the House on the British Government’s handling of row with Spain.
Labour peer Lord Anderson described the sea incursions as “reckless” and said the border queues were “highly damaging to the [Gibraltar] economy”.
“The Spanish Government should be told that these provocations will not help because there is overwhelming support among all parties for listening to the Government and people of Gibraltar before there is any change in Gibraltar’s status,” he said.
Baroness Warsi was asked whether British officials had reminded Spain of the “hypocrisy” of claiming Gibraltar when Spain retained the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco.
“These discussions are always about trying to resolve matters, not to try and make matters worse,” she replied, to laughter.
She would not be drawn on the detail of those discussions but added: “Needless to say that we make the views of the people of Gibraltar robustly known to the Government of Spain.”
Baroness Warsi also underscored the British Government’s commitment to engaging in dialogue through ad hoc talks, a format that the Gibraltar Government also accepts.
“Our strategy at this stage is to de-escalate the situation and try and resolve these matters through diplomatic and political routes,” she said.
Last night, a spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed that there had been just eight Spanish incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters so far this this year, most of them of a minor nature.

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Unfortunately what is very clear to see is that unless our UK Government, Our Governor and our Foreign Office stand up to Spain - these dangerous bullying tactics will continue!

UK Government, FCO and Governor have a responsibility and are accountable and as such really need to get their act together and stop playing the "Hot Potato" with everything that concerns Gibraltar! We are British Citizens and as such deserve the same protection as The Falklands or even the UK!

Words have proved to go with the wind and by not dealing with the issue or by ignoring it is NOT resolving the issue!

So we need to put pressure Internationally but that DOES NOT EXEMPT UK from their responsibilities!

Anne-Marie Struggles