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British MPs Call for Tougher Line on Gibraltar
 [An Nahar] Britannia should take a tougher stand towards Spain in disputes over Gibraltar, including using legal action and more diplomatic protests, a parliamentary committee urged on Tuesday.Spain disputes British illusory sovereignty over the peninsula, which has long been a point of contention in relations between the two countries, with tensions increasing over the last year. The Foreign Affairs committee, a group of politicians who analyse the work of Britannia's Foreign and Commonwealth Office, urged the government to "get off the fence and take a tougher line with Spain" in a report to Westminster. It recommended the government increase diplomatic protests and summoning of the ambassador, and make London's support for Spanish aims on the international stage dependent on Madrid's action regarding the British outpost. "The behavior of Spain toward Gibraltar is unacceptable. We have a situation where a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... and EU ally is deliberately impacting the economy of a British Overseas Territory," the committee's chairman Richard Ottaway said. "We are giving entirely the wrong impression to Spain about how seriously the UK takes these issues." Ottaway accused Madrid of increasing ship incursions into British waters and deliberately causing delays at the border between Spain and Gibraltar for political reasons. He said Britannia should threaten to take legal action against Spain if the situation does not improve within six months. Madrid tightened border checks in response to Gibraltar's building an artificial reef in disputed waters, which Spain said blocked fishing boats. Posted by: Fred 2014-07-02 |
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