Defenders of Gibraltar continue to raise concern of incursions to the Governor
On Thursday, 19th January 2017, the Defenders of Gibraltar represented by its Chairperson Anne-Marie Struggles, Committee Member, Nadia Esserti and it's Press Officer, Ellie McCauley-Cummins met with His Excellency Lieutenant-General Edward Davis. CB CBE Governor and Commander-in Chief Gibraltar, at the Convent.
A full and frank discussion on both sides ensued. Anne-Marie Struggles voiced her concerns about the continued 'bullying' from Spain, not least the escalating Spanish incursions which place residents of Gibraltar and their families in danger at sea.
His Excellency acknowledged that these incursions will continue to be monitored vigorously.
His Excellency also acknowledges the possible upcoming problems that may occur at the Border when the new amendment to the Schengen Border Code requiring tighter Border controls come into effect in March.
All parties acknowledge that what happens at that time could be a clear indication of the future post Brexit Gibraltar and that the situation will be monitored closely
DoG also stressed the need for clearer communications from the FCO where possible.The Defenders of Gibraltar are pleased to confirm that they continue to grow in strength with Committee Members based in the U.K. working closely with all MPs and updating them on the situation in Gibraltar
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One of our biggest concerns for us as a people is ensuring their safety and security at sea. So we urge everyone who experiences or has experienced any harassment at sea - to email us at defendersofgibraltar@gmail.com and to write a letter to the Governor too!
This is the only way we can ensure our safety and those of our families.
Here are some links to remind us of some known issues:
Our Chief Minister is dealing with Brexit and ensuring that UK Government take into consideration Gibraltar in their negotiations in leaving the EU. This is not an easy task for sure but we will survive whatever comes as we are a strong people and determined to survive as Gibraltarians.
Never underestimate the passion of us as a people! Our history of over 300 years is proof of that - with and without an open border!
The importance to Vote to remain "IN"- in our EU referendum voting
Never has another referendum for Gibraltar been as important us our last one to Remain British! This referendum gives us a chance to vote as part of the United Kingdom. AS such we urge all British people to think not only what is best for England but best for all of the UK and overseas territories. This includes our magnificent Gibraltar. With UK in the EU we can continue to grow and offer opportunities to everyone to be able to live and work in Sunny Gibraltar and many will continue to reap the benefits of the EU. There is a lot of scaremongering going on about staying IN or Leaving but the facts need to be communicated properly without doubts and emotion. Being in the EU allows us all to have a say on our future and allows us all to grow financially even more. SO we urge all British people to be very cautious and to know what their vote will mean. Gibraltar benefits from an open frontier and yes even if there are issues caused by Spanish Government the EU has a responsibility to solve them and get involved - no matter how they have tried not to in the past. All British people who also live in Spain benefit greatly by UK remaining IN- their future also depends on UK voting Remain IN on the 23rd June. Not just in Spain but all over Europe we can all travel as EU citizens but if UK vote to leave this is one big part that we will all lose out on. Freedom of trade and movement. We support our Government in Gibraltar on the stance to Vote to REMAIN IN. We stand side by side in Gibraltar as do our Opposition Members as do all businesses in Gibraltar. So as always we the Gibraltarian people will stand side by side with our Chief Minister Fabian Picardo on what is deemed to be the best for our future. So we urge everyone out there that has a right to vote on this referendum to please be informed on the impact to all British people everywhere! Read our Chief Minister's call:
Together, for over three centuries, we have defended British interests and values. We were there for the Falklands crisis, the IRA era, WWII and even after the historic and decisive Battle of Trafalgar when Admiral Nelson’s body was first landed in our small corner of the British family.
It’s a great privilege to have the opportunity to put the Gibraltarian perspective across to you in a newspaper that has so often stood up for the Rock and its people, not least when Spain has tried to bully us. That's why it's sad that, on this occasion, many of Gibraltar’s great friends and supporters will have strong personal views on this issue that differ from our own.
Of course, everyone, every city, town and nation, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has a different opinion on how Britain should vote on June 23rd. I expect the vast majority of people on the Rock will be voting to remain in the European Union. But trust me, centuries of sieges – military, economic and political - have never changed our minds about being British.
Click link to read more - http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/678382/eu-referendum-brexit-gibraltar-fabian-picardo
THE commander of a US nuclear submarine threatened to ram a Spanish customs vessel in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters
Once again Spain has nearly caused an international incident! This time our Roya Navy had to warn off Spanish Vessel with Flares. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/05/royal-navy-fires-warning-shots-as-spanish-vessel-harasses-us-sub/
Royal Navy fires warning
shots as Spanish vessel harasses US sub in Gibraltar
HMS Sabre and (inset) USS
FloridaCREDIT: LA(PHOT)
STUART HILL/MOD/EPA
The Royal Navy fired flares to warn off a Spanish
patrol boat approaching an American nuclear submarine off Gibraltar.
The fast patrol boat HMS Sabre fired warning shots
across the bow of a Guardia Civil vessel as it twice tried to cut across the
path of USS Florida during an incursion into Gibraltar’s waters.
USS FloridaCREDIT: US
NAVY
Gibraltar says Spanish vessels regularly stray deep
into its territorial waters and the Foreign Office has attacked the incursions
as provocative.
But defence sources said it was rare for a Royal
Navy vessel to fire flares and it had only happened a couple of times in the
past two years.
A police boat patrols off
GibraltarCREDIT: GEOFF
PUGH
One Naval source said: "It just got too close
and when it's a nuclear submarine, you get twitchy anyway. If you have
responsibility for the protection of it, then you are going to take action much
quicker than you might normally. The force protection measures worked and the
vessel went away."
Officials in the British overseas territory have
complained about the incident as USS Florida visited the British Naval base
last month, the Sun reported.
Gibraltarians
defiant over border rowPlay!02:40
Spain claims sovereignty over the strategic
outpost, which stands on the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula, but has
been a British Overseas Territory since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
In recent years Madrid has warned it is ready to impose a new border
tax, close its airspace to planes using the British overseas territory's
airport, and investigate the affairs of Gibraltarians with Spanish economic
interests.
The row escalated in 2013 after Gibraltar began
building an artificial reef it said would improve fish stocks depleted by
incursions by Spanish fishermen.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence declined to
comment on nuclear submarine operations or force protection measures
What will our Governor do now? What will our Chief Minister do? What will Foreign Office do now? What are they all waiting for.... a death? An accident? Wake up UK! Wake up Governor! Wake up Gibraltar!
TRUTH behind the Gibraltar
row: How US submarine threatened Royal Navy to act on Spain
THE commander of a
US nuclear submarine threatened to ram a Spanish customs vessel trying to block
its path unless the Royal Navy vessel escorting it took action.
The
US nuclear submarine threatened to ram a Spanish customs vessel trying to block
its path
Last week it
emerged that a Royal Navy patrol boat fired warning flares across the bow of
the Spanish vessel during the altercation just outside Gibraltar waters.
It has now been
revealed that the Royal Navy’s unprecedented actions were ordered by USS
Florida’s no-nonsense captain Nathan Martin who warned the Royal Navy to sort
the situation out or he would intervene.
It was the first of
two such actions by Spanish vessels that day.
The second, in
British waters, involved a Garda Civil police boat.
RELATED
ARTICLES
The US submarine
was making a routine visit to Gibraltar’s submarine base on April 16.
It had already
surfaced but was still in international waters when its path was intercepted by
a Spanish customs vessel.
Strict security
protocols, partly prompted by the successful Al Qaeda attack on the US
destroyer USS Cole in 2000, require the captain of any US warship to prevent
uninvited vessels from getting too close to their ship.
Despite being escorted
by the Royal Navy patrol boat HMS Sabre, the Spanish vessel crossed the
submarine’s path several times.
Captain Martin was
nearing the end of his 77-day operational tour on the submarine when the
altercation took place.
CROWN
A
Royal Navy patrol boat fired warning flares across the bow of the Spanish
vessel
GETTY
The
Royal Navy’s unprecedented actions were ordered by USS Florida’s captain Nathan
Martin
There is no question from the report that he would have rammed the
Spanish vessel
A senior Royal Navy source
Last night a senior
Royal Navy source with access to the “After Action” report about the incident,
sent to the First Sea Lord and senior operational commanders, said it was a
very difficult and tense situation.
The source said: “The
US commander was very concerned about his vessel and our officer was worried
about sparking an international incident, a wrong decision could end your
career in a situation like this and spark confrontation.
“The US has very
strict protocols about vessels getting close to their nuclear submarines, in a
very nononsense manner he made it clear he wanted things sorted or he would
resolve the incident, and all he could do was ram the boat.
“It was a very
tense situation. The Spanish had not responded to our transmissions on the
emergency channel to steer away and the US commander was not prepared to wait
any longer.
CROWN
A
senior Royal Navy source said it was a very difficult and tense situation
“He made it very
clear in his radio transmission that he wanted our people to act, or he would
sort the situation out himself and, while he remained polite, he was very
direct in conveying the message that he wasn’t prepared to allow the Spanish
vessel to continue harassing his boat.
“If our patrol boat
had not fired flares, there is no question from the report that he would have
rammed the Spanish vessel.”
Incredibly, Spanish
authorities failed to heed the lesson. Later another Spanish boat belonging to
the Garda Civil also harassed the submarine, this time in British waters.
No flares were
fired on this occasion.
Last night Admiral
Lord West, former First Sea Lord, said: “Nuclear submarines are very
unmanoeuvrable when they are on the surface, and it is very stupid for the
Spanish vessel to go in close like that. The Spanish clearly resent the
Americans using Gibraltar, but this is not the way for a fellow EU and Nato
member to behave.”
We urge our Government to put the pressure on UK Government and the FCO and our Governor to protect our waters and to enforce a stronger security before we have a disaster!
Spain has not taken long to threaten border closure while UK faces the IN or OUT of EU referendum!
It never ceases to amaze me that Spain would use this difficult situation to once again find a way to bully Gibraltar. Can you imagine how hard life would become for us the people of Gibraltar if UK did vote out? As if it is not bad enough what happens when we are in I can only imagine how it will only get worse. At the moment of course all politicians are united in Gibraltar to encourage the Vote in and as such are supporting and pushing the vote in campaign called Remain IN. OF course they are and will as it is the future of Gibraltar not only for now but further generations to come. But one point that Spain continues to miss is that SPAIN is also benefiting from Gibraltar. More than 10, 000 cross borders workers depend on Gibraltar in Europe for jobs and security. La Linea, Algeciras, all the way to Malaga businesses and workers travel to work or make money from Gibraltar. So to think otherwise is such a foolish attitude. Spain should encourage more co operation between Gibraltar and Spain and not try to cause more division. The time has come if anything for Spain to join the spreading of the IN campaign especially since so many ex pats live in Spain and have a right to vote. Spain should start to being more understanding of the true situation that affects their own people that live and depend so much on the prosperity they enjoy because of Gibraltar Also we need to urge all UK citizens to also think about us when they vote - we are also British and we have been loyal to UK for more than 300 years! Now UK citizens should show more support towards Gibraltar and its people.
Spain could blockade Gibraltar if UK votes to leave EU, diplomat warns
'We wouldn't have to respect free movement of labour, capital or goods,' said senior Spanish official
The Rock has caused tension between Spain and the UK for years Alamy
SPAIN could close its borders with Gibraltar if Britain leaves the EU, a senior Spanish official has warned.
The diplomat warned Spain could tear up its obligations to the Rock if the UK votes Leave on June 23.
The unnamed source told the Times Madrid would no longer have to respect directives from Brussels on free movement of capital, goods and labour towards the British overseas territory.
Spain Gibraltar border Alamy
“We do not see Britain leaving the European Union as an opportunity but you have to understand that if Brexit happened it would change our obligations to Gibraltar,” the source told The Times.
“No longer would we have to respect the free movement of labour, not having long queues and the free movement of capital and goods which Brussels demands.
"We could even close the border if we wanted.”
The Spanish government sees Gibraltar as a territory under “illegal occupation” and has aggressively maintained Madrid’s claim to sovereignty. Spain gave Gibraltar to Britain in 1713 under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht.
The government source said: “It is rather like if Spain occupied a territory in the Firth of Forth, allowed nuclear submarines to visit, helped industries to develop, used it to smuggle contraband cigarettes and said the waters around it belonged to Spain.
“I do not imagine the Scottish would be too pleased.”
Spanish foreign minister José Manuel García-Margallo, recently suggested if the UK votes for Brexit Britain and Spain could resume talks on joint sovereignty which were shelved by Tony Blair’s government in 2002.
Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar, said: “Why would a modern European country behave despotically to a democratic people whose only desire is to have good relations and co-operation with our neighbours?
“Gibraltar will not surrender its sovereignty, not one bit of our land, not one drop of our territorial waters and not one breath of air. We have seen off many sieges of many kinds and the Gibraltarian spirit is as resolved and determined to defend our rights. Gibraltar will never surrender.”
Rob Oxley, from the Vote Leave campaign, said: “Our membership of EU is not protecting us from Spanish irrationality; the country already ignores rules on Gibraltar so you have to ask are we any better off in the EU? It is not an argument to say these guys are really bad so better to be in the EU with them than outside without them.”
In 2013 Brussels had to call in inspectors after a row broke out between Britain and Spain.
Spanish officials had introduced tough border controls, which caused huge delays, in retaliation for the creation of an artificial reef in waters off Gibraltar.
Tensions between the UK and Spain have been strained recently with around 300 unlawful incursions by Spanish vessels into British Gibraltarian waters last year.
When the issue of a referendum on the UK’s continued membership of the EU was first mooted, I asked David Cameron and David Lidington to ensure we would be able to vote with the rest of the UK. Both agreed. True to their words, when the vote was called, British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens resident in Gibraltar were included in the franchise.
THE CAMPAIGN
Now the coming weeks are going to move very quickly as we rollercoaster our way towards the vote on June 23rd.
Alongside the dates of our other, historic, referenda, that will be one of the most important days in our modern history.
The referendum to decide whether we remain in the European or leave it will be a defining moment for Gibraltar’s future and indeed that of the United Kingdom.
UNITY
I, along with the all the elected political party leaders, am asking you to go out and vote “REMAIN”.
Gibraltar is not often politically united.
You should realise the seminal importance of this vote given your politicians’ unprecedented unity on this subject which is not directly a sovereignty question.
Some of you may feel your politicians argue too much. Maybe. But the reasons we are firmly united on this occasion have at their heart the preservation of our country’s many achievements over the past three decades.
I therefore call on you to work with me and your other political and civic leaders to make sure that family and friends also use their vote to REMAIN in the EU. For anyone who will be away or unable to attend a polling station, make sure you or they organise their proxy votes.
GIB STRONGER IN
Your MPs, representing the entire Gibraltar Parliament will be joined by other representatives of civil society, trade unions, commerce and many others in giving whole hearted support to Gibraltar Stronger in Europe campaign.
In the very capable hands of Gemma Vasquez and her team, I know Gibraltarians will give the “Gibraltar Stronger In” group every support.
Voting at this referendum is as important as any referendum we have held in Gibraltar.
SURVIVAL
Leaving the EU will not destroy us. Nothing can.
Despite the headlines, Gibraltar has seen through many sieges and battles, challenges and often turned these into opportunities.
Like on every occasion when we have been written off, we would endure and we would succeed.
Of that I have no doubt at all.
IF IT AIN’T BROKE
But why break something that works relatively well?
Why exit a growing, expanding trading block that has delivered the prosperity that we enjoy today?
Why move from the certainty of our status today to the unknown of the status we could have once the UK renegotiates it’s relationship as a non-member of the EU.
Why would 30,000 people want to exclude themselves from a trading block of 520m people that will soon also have a free trade agreement with the 400m people in the USA?
UNCERTAINTY
The only thing that is clear is that leaving the EU will certainly create unnecessary uncertainty.
Yes, there are always winners and losers with major change. But in terms of Gibraltar we are agreed, across the political, commercial and trades union spectrum, that the losses with a leave vote far outweigh any benefits.
The many ‘ifs’ that a leave vote creates – such as what happens at our frontier, what happens to financial services in the City of London, would Scotland once again seek independence etc – are simply the source of more uncertainty.
OUR PROSPERITY
Nothing has ever been easy for Gibraltar.
Successive Chief Ministers have had to battle on many fronts – Spain, the EU and even sometimes the UK itself – to arrive at a Gibraltar that was strong enough to ride the many storms we have endured and to live in relative prosperity.
We have seen though joint-sovereignty attempts, global economic upheaval and twisted Spanish diplomacy chomping at our doorstep.
We won our right to vote at EU elections in the Court of Human Rights in a case against the UK.
We have won and prevailed against countless EU Commission moves in areas such as tax and defended our highly reputable finance centre and our highly regulated gaming industry and both are now therefore highly regarded.
We have won EU passporting rights crucial to the financial industries.
By remaining in the EU we keep our successes and battle on.
If we leave we will need to go back to the drawing board in some of the hard fought areas and we will rely on each successive UK government not sacrificing us to the expediency of its own political, economic and commercial interests and needs.
SPAIN’S CLAIM
Spain’s caretaker Foreign Minister is already excited at the thought of gaining leverage to pursue his personal sovereignty campaign against us.
Well, whatever the outcome of the referendum let me be very clear: we will never surrender to pressure from Spain. Gibraltar will always remain ours.
Gibraltar belongs to the British Gibraltarians and that is not going to change.
Gibraltar will, of course, live to fight another day and we will survive whatever the challenge that comes before us. Your government is ready for the hard work that rebuilding a new economic model for the future will entail. We have been working on the options for some time.
FOR OUR CHILDREN
But why put ourselves and our children through all that uncertainty and subject to new potential pitfalls?
If the best part of our 23,000 eligible voters choose REMAIN, the significance of that unity will go far beyond there being at least a slim chance that we tip the balance.
Whatever the outcome of the overall referendum, Gibraltar must signal to UK, the EU and the world the direction we want to take: free movement of people, capital, goods and services, the right to trade freely with UK, with Europe and the world. Britain, as much as the rest of Europe and the World, need to hear from us what we expect of it.
Our message must be united and clear.
A huge Gibraltar vote to REMAIN is the only option that will get that message across.
The EU is far from perfect. But voting to REMAIN in it is the right choice for Gibraltar.
