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| Europe |
| Spain takes UK to UN over Gibraltar |
| 2012-06-15 |
| [Iran Press TV] Spain will take its dispute with Britain over the sovereignty of the Gibraltar Rock to the United Nations, Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs says, after the provocative projection of British Queen's giant image on the Rock earlier this week. The image of the Queen was projected on the northern face of the rock next to Britain's flag on Tuesday night as the youngest son of the Queen and his wife visited the disputed Overseas British Territory as part of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. Reports said the image could be seen from miles across the border from Spain, where the Gibraltar Rock is located. Spain said on Monday that Madrid considers the royals' visit with "disagreement and unease." Now, in the wake of Gibraltar's provocative move, a spokesman at Spain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Spain's Ambassador to the UN will refer the sovereignty dispute to the UN Decolonization Committee on Friday to call for negotiations with Britain on the future of the roughly seven square-kilometer area. "Spain will reiterate its position and talk about the how the situation has been developing in recent months," the spokesman told The Daily Telegrah. "We will ask the UK to engage in conversation over sovereignty." This comes as a source at the ministry also underlined Spain's outrage about the Queen's image move. "We don't approve of what was obviously a symbolic show of sovereignty during a time when we should be working towards solving problems," the source said. Britain invaded and captured Gibraltar in 1704 and Spain ceded its sovereignty to Britain nine years later as part of the treaty of Utrecht, yet the details of the treaty are a point of contention for both sides. The UN Special Committee on Decolonization lists the name of the area alongside other British colonies, including Las Malvinas (Falklands) that should be decolonized. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 "Come and take it" |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2012-06-15 17:25 |
| #7 Spain picks this fight because it hurts their national pride. And they don't have much left of it at this point. It is the only thing they can do to make themselves feel better about themselves. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2012-06-15 16:05 |
| #6 Glad that all of Spain's other issues and problems have been cleared up so they can pick this fight |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-06-15 11:50 |
| #5 Ceuta. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2012-06-15 11:33 |
| #4 Molon Labe |
| Posted by: mojo 2012-06-15 10:45 |
| #3 Of course the UK could sponsor similar actions to champion the aboriginal rights of the Basques, citing their own actions with Scotland as a model for Madrid. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-06-15 09:00 |
| #2 I wouldn't worry about it. The UK has veto power in the Security Council. The General Assembly can pass all the resolutions they want, but the only ones with "teeth" come from the Security Council. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2012-06-15 07:55 |
| #1 I'm completely at a loss why any country would fund the U.N.? |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2012-06-15 03:46 |