Britain is sending navy warships to Gibraltar amid growing tension between London and Madrid over the territory’s sovereignty.
According to reports, Royal Navy rapid-reaction force including aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious and two frigates will sail for the Mediterranean on Monday, August 12 for a four-month deployment after a diplomatic row with neighboring Spain over the territory heated up.
British Ministry of Defence (MoD), however, claimed the deployment was long-planned and not connected to recent tensions between the two countries.
“Gibraltar is a strategic base for UK Defence and as such Royal Navy ships visit its waters throughout the year as part of a range of regular and routine deployments,” an MoD spokesperson said.
The deployment of warships in Gibraltar follows weeks of rising tension after Spanish border officers caused delays of up to six hours for cars trying to enter Spain, carrying out searches on vehicles.
The move drew an angry reaction from London and British Foreign Office formally protested to Spain’s ambassador to London over the matter.
Tensions between Spain and Gibraltar flared up last month when the Rock’s authorities announced plan for creating an artificial reef for fish and boats began dumping concrete blocks into the sea. On other side of the border, Spanish authorities said the reef would block its fishing boats.
Gibraltar was occupied by Britain in 1713 and has been since a bone of contention between Madrid and London.
The United Nations (UN) lists the strategic 6.8-kilometer area that overlooks the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean as a territory waiting to be decolonized.
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There is no basis on which to build a European Union, and never was any basis. The EU lacks almost everything that made the US possible, such as one language, one common law legal system, one goal of protecting liberty for the people, etc. As the US slowly loses these things, it will face the risk of a breakup as well.
So a breakup of the EU is as inevitable as the breakup of the USSR, and for much the same reasons.
As for Spain and Britain, they’ve seldom agreed on anything involving land. Spain supports Argentina in the Falkland/Malvina Island dispute, among other issues.
Now the friendly brotherly one nation European Union sending war ships up and down on each other. I thought one for all, all for one. EU is nothing but money grab from the weak brother nations. Where is the soldiery being preached all the time. Now is the motto, YOUR MONEY IS MY MONEY AND MY MONEY IS MY MONEY
The only problem with Tracer’s comment is that this German is absolutely RIGHT. I wish it were not so but everyday the EU becomes more of a farce. Tyranny in our back yard. Its matter of a race to the bottom between the EU and my country the USA