Gibraltar Government tells Spanish Foreign Affairs Committee... to 'get real'

The Gibraltar Government yesterday reacted to renewed calls in Spain, urging for sovereignty talks to reopen, saying the motion is "not politically viable"... and more or less told them to 'get real'!

The Government was reacting to the calls made by politicians in the Spanish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee last week, when PP and PSOE members of parliament urged the ruling PSOE Government to re-open negotiations with the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of Gibraltar.

In a press release yesterday, a spokesperson for the Gibraltar Government said the call is "unrealistic" and "unviable".

Gibraltar Government Statement

The statement said the Government noted the motion, "adopted unanimously by the Spanish Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee in which it urges the Spanish Government to press for a resumption of bilateral negotiations with the UK on the question of Sovereignty".

The Government believes this "is unrealistic" and added that "a parallel process of trilateral and bilateral discussions, as envisaged in the motion, is not politically viable".

The statement reminds Spanish politicians that the UK Government "is committed not to participate in talks or negotiations on Sovereignty with Spain, including under the Brussels Declaration, unless Gibraltar is content for it to do so".

It also reminds them that the UK Government has firmly stated this in all relevant quarters, including to the Spanish Government itself. It has also said so in the UK Parliament and in the United Nations.

Concluding the Gibraltar Government statement, a spokesperson for No 6 (the Chief Minister's Office) said:

"Quite apart from the UK’s own stated position and commitments to Gibraltar, bilateralism does not offer a viable or constructive way forward for anybody."

Source: Gibraltar Government Press Release - No.43/2009 - Date: 13th March 2009

'Nuff' said!! :)

'When will Spain ever stop banging on about Gibraltar's sovereignty?'

Gibraltar belongs to the People of Gibraltar. It is neither Spain's to claim nor Britain's to give away!