11 August
A Conservative MEP yesterday condemned the latest spate of incursions by Spanish vessels into Gibraltar's waters - and vowed to continue her opposition to Spain's aggression.
Julie Girling MEP, who represents Gibraltar and South West England in the European Parliament, said: "Spain is fully aware of the legal position around territorial waters, yet over the past two years has increased unlawful incursions by state vessels from around five per month to around 40 per month. These provocations by the Spanish are unacceptable.
"These incursions were committed by police officers. They should know the law - and what it says is 'keep out of our waters'.
"I have contacted the Foreign Commonwealth Office in London to raise the concerns of the many constituents who have contacted me, not just about the incursions but about the disgraceful delays at the border. I have robustly defended the interests of Gibraltar in the European Parliament and will continue to do so."
11-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
'More merit in international law for the British than for the Spanish position'
August 11, 2015
GIBRALTAR'S TERRITORIAL WATERS - Analysis by JOE GARCIA
The Treaty of Utrecht does NOT say that Gibraltar has no territorial waters, like the Spaniards say. It does not say one thing or the other.
But as Britain has always contended: It has long been the position that a cession of territory automatically carries the cession of the appurtenant territorial waters unless the contrary is specifically stated.
There is more merit in international law for the British than the Spanish position, say legal experts.
Howard Levie, US professor emeritus of international law, points out: "Reference to the many treaties of cession entered into during the 18th century (and, as a matter of fact, right down to the present era) will disclose that rarely, if ever, is there any mention of territorial waters to accompany a land cession which includes a seacoast - but that the concurrent cession of the territorial waters has always been considered as implicit"
For example, other land cessions were included in other clauses of the Treaty of Utrecht outside the clause about Gibraltar - and in no case is there any mention of territorial waters.
In fact, at one stage Britain said that territorial waters at Gibraltar extended to where the guns could reach - because that is how you measured things in those days. That is why British ships were anchored right opposite La Linea - a sight vividly remembered by people in Gibraltar today - in furtherance of the old laws of the sea.
MEDIAN LINE
However, with the coming of the 1958 Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone, a median line has been used to roughly divide the waters of the bay.
That convention, which reigns supreme, also states: "The sovereignty of a State extends, beyond its land territory and its internal waters, to a belt of sea adjacent to its coast, described as the territorial sea."
Spain does not accept this, but an international court would not uphold the Spanish contention, according to legal experts.
During the first Anglo-Spanish talks over Gibraltar, held in 1966, Britain said that there is no basis for the contention held by Spain that the limits of the territorial waters of Gibraltar are fixed in Article 10 of the treaty of Utrecht and are confined to the waters of the port.
Britain added: "The fact that only the port of Gibraltar was specifically ceded to Britain under the treaty, without any mention of a cession of territorial waters, is irrelevant, since it has long been the position that a cession of territory automatically carries the cession of the appurtenant territorial waters unless the contrary is specifically stated."
In fact, the British Government has long held that "it is almost impossible to conceive of a grant of rights in wider terms," in respect of the terms of Article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht as applying to Gibraltar.
Britain has been administering the waters surrounding Gibraltar for more than 300 years, which provides a prescriptive right to those waters quite apart from the fact that such waters have always been regarded by Britain as coming under British sovereign jurisdiction.
It was in October 1966 when Britain offered to submit the legal aspects of the Spanish claim, including territorial waters, to the International Court of Justice, but Spain never took up the offer.
During that period and beyond the closed frontier days, Spain did not make the kind of incursions that have become commonplace nowadays.
Then, the Spanish Government respected the territorial waters demarcations, even when imposing an air ban; now, her attitude is more active and aggressive, often repeating that, according to them, the waters around the Rock are Spanish as Gibraltar has no territorial sea.
That is why Gibraltar has to be specially careful in not entering into any agreement that could emasculate our rights over the waters around the Rock.
11-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
Respect international conventions, says EU
August 11, 2015
With the UK condemning Spanish state vessels for the latest incursions in a clear violation of the international law of the sea, it is obvious that a statement yesterday by the European Commission, which urged both Britain and Spain to respect international conventions, was pointed at Spain.
The Commission was clearly using diplomatic language, because not only did they urge respect for international conventions, but also mentioned 'maritime rights.'
Not only that, but any notion that the Schengen agreement allowed for 'hot pursuits' into other EU territories was dismissed by the woman spokesman insofar that this applied to pursuits in terrestrial frontiers but not in respect of maritime situations.
The spokesperson said the problems that had arisen was of a bilateral nature, but the Commission was aware of the UK protest.
11-08-15 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR
The Protests and the Standard Replies!
August 11, 2015 | By Carmen Gomez
Since the 1950's it was obvious that the Foreign Office was dedicated to the improvement of relations between Britain and the rest of the World and if Gibraltar had to be sacrificed for the sake of good relations with Spain, so be it.
This has become very apparent a generation later. To them curiously, the Spanish pretensions were very irritating, but they believed no one took them seriously. In 1956, Whitehall regarded the complaints presented by Spain re their claim to Gibraltar, as "routine" and furthermore said, that no particular importance was attached to the whole business as such complaints were simply added to the list. "The protests and the standard replies". This went on for many years and as we all know, is an ongoing issue. But has anybody given any thought to the fact, that perhaps the Spaniards have taken a page from their book, and have been treating complaints lodged by the UK and our Governor in the same manner? In fact, does anybody know if indeed there have ever been any standard replies forthcoming in this instance from Madrid? If so, do we know what they've said in their replies, or have the UK's complaints, also been added to a list? I find this whole business distasteful and hugely worrying.
Importance
Gibraltar has been of importance in many ways for the defense of the underbelly of Europe and the Mediterranean. There has always existed a genuine goodwill towards the UK on the Rock which was particularly evident and even seen as gracious behaviour when compared to Malta and Cyprus in its day. Its base has served to good purpose for the British Navy to prepare its ships. Britain is in charge of our defense and it has to protect our waters despite their friendship with Spain. Let us not forget what Lopez Bravo, the man who replaced Castiella, said in 1971, that whatever his personal feelings towards Britain may have been, he was still Spanish Foreign Minister first! Even the former First Sea Lord, Lord West of Spithead, said in the House of Lords, that he felt Britain was not doing enough to counter the illegal incursions situation.
We have now heard of a renewed call for Ad hoc talks, at a point where there are only three months to go for the general elections in Spain; bow strange some might say. Not so. The PP appear to have an encouraging lead in the polls, despite their dismal track record of old, recent and present corruption, with new cases making the headlines daily. So, with added confidence, once gain at the helm, y viento en popa, they bring us back into the equation; after all, this is what they reckon occupies the minds of their electors and wins them votes. LET THE CIRCUS BEGIN! Ad Hoc talks on their terms. Impossible! Let us remember what was recognized by the UK and Spain in the trilateral process, Gibraltar cannot be an "anadidura" of the UK delegation, because it is not an integral part of the UK, unlike the Junta de Andalucia etc. who can form part of the Spanish delegation. I hope no English politician is getting enthused by this because we aren't.
We are getting more and more angry and frustrated with this outrageous show, where the ring leader has taken a hike and the artists are left to their own devices; i.e. total chaos at the frontier as no one knows what they are doing, whilst our trade and our tourists, once again suffer the shocking consequences; ships coming in and out of our waters, which they call theirs, at their leisure, in an irresponsible and dangerous manner, not only interfering with a nuclear submarine in our port as happened with the HMS Talent last August, but endangering our people on their day out at the beach, as happened this past weekend; illegal Incursions into our air space like the Spanish Navy Sikorsky SH-60B Seahawk helicopter which flew over our runway at a height of just 500 feet, or the Spanish fighter jets that invaded British airspace over Gibraltar last October, which flew across the bows of a British airliner in a reckless and dangerous stunt; or the helicopter invasion of Gibraltar airspace last December, at night and with its lights switched off; If this is not a threat to British Sovereignty, I'm a Chinaman! ENOUGH. NO TALKS UNDER DURESS! We said so back in 1966 when Harold Wilson was in power, and we say so now. In Gibraltar we do not take kindly to bullying.
It is unbelievable that a rotten Government like the PP allows their media to trash our reputation and has no respect for our laws of the sea and on land, whilst Britain looks on and says there's nothing to worry about. I bet the Minorcans in their time, were under the impression that they were safe under Britain's auspices. It was Kipling who said that "nothing is settled until it is settled right." It must have been a hard blow for them to exchange, in the words of Pedro Riudavets, historian and chronicler "the liberal and protective government of the English for the Absolute and restrictive Spanish rules."
Apart from the devilish intentions of Margallo, which were shared by Castiella in his day; he who served in Franco's Blue Division which fought for Hitler's army against the Soviet Union, and whose hatred of us he emulates, Spain itself is a country who plays by totally different rules as opposed to ours. In this day and age they continue to torture animals in the name of Sport and village tradition. Acts of cruelty to animals is nothing new in Spain, for we already know the little respect Spaniards in general have for their animals, but I bring this recent episode to your attention to explain the following.
Continues tomorrow
