SAPIN/GIBRALTAR: SPAIN AND BRITAIN AGREE TO START A NEW ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS OVER GIBRALTAR
Record ID:
584715
SAPIN/GIBRALTAR: SPAIN AND BRITAIN AGREE TO START A NEW ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS OVER GIBRALTAR
- Title: SAPIN/GIBRALTAR: SPAIN AND BRITAIN AGREE TO START A NEW ROUND OF CONSULTATIONS OVER GIBRALTAR
- Date: 27th October 2004
- Summary: (W6) MADRID, SPAIN (OCTOBER 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. WS: EXTERIOR OF SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTRY 0.04 2. BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER JACK STRAW AND SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE 0.11 3. WIDE OF PRESS CONFERENCE 0.16 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER JACK STRAW SAYING "Spain has got its very clear position in respect of Gibraltar. So have we. I said it out, it is some of our obligation in the 69 constitution. What this press release expresses I think is a desire by the three parties to move forward." 0.39 5. STRAW AND MORATINOS DURING PRESSER 0.43 6. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS SAYING "The Spanish government is trying to recover the trust of Gibraltarian citizens, so through the dialogue we can find a solution that can help us to negotiate with the United Kingdom, with serenity. So we can get our objective, that I can repeat again, is to recover the sovereignty of Gibraltar." 1.03 7. PHOTOGRAPHERS 1.06 8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) STRAW SAYING: "We will always honour the wishes of the people of Gibraltar as to their future, so unless they are there, fully able to participate, as the minister has indicated, there is, frankly, little point in having the discussions. And I fully understand this is very very difficult issue for the people of Gibraltar, it is also a difficult issue for the people of Spain. The only way to move forward is to do it on the basis of democracy and consent." 1.41 9. STRAW AND MORATINOS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE 1.46 10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) STRAW SAYING: "We have agreed to consider and consult further on how to establish a new forum for dialogue on Gibraltar, with an open agenda in which Gibraltar will have its own voice. Modalities for this dialogue will be agreed by all the concerned parties, future tense, they have not been agreed they are for discussion." 2.05 11. WS: NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROCESS 2.09 (W5) GIBRALTAR (OCTOBER 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 12. POLICE OFFICER, PAN TO DEMONSTRATORS STANDING IN SQUARE 2.19 13. SIGN READING (in English) 'THE GIBRALTARIANS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM, THEY ARE THE SOLUTION' (2 SHOTS) 2.28 14. BANNER READING (in English) 'ALL'S WELL, NO! ALL IS NOT WELL' TIED TO RAILING 2.33 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 11th November 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN AND GIBRALTAR
- City:
- Country: Gibraltar Spain
- Reuters ID: LVA76XRGBPWPZYKP5U5EDLJNVQU6
- Story Text: Straw and Moratinos say Spain and Britain have
agreed to start a new round of consultations over Gibraltar.
Spain and Britain said on Wednesday (October 27)
they have agreed to start a new round of consultations on
Gibraltar with a view to solving the three-hundred year old
debate about the sovereignty of the disputed British colony.
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw and his Spanish
counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos said they would discuss
setting up a new "two countries, three voices" forum, to
give Gibraltar a chance to have a say in talks on its own
future.
Spain ceded the rocky outcrop on its southern coast to
Britain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and has been trying
to regain control of the area ever since.
Gibraltar boycotted the last round of talks because it
was not offered its own seat at the table.
Spain and Britain went on to reach a 2002 agreement on
joint sovereignty, which collapsed when Gibraltarian voters
overwhelmingly rejected any role for Spain in their affairs
in a non-binding referendum.
The nature of the forum has not yet been agreed, but
Spain has agreed to allow its local authorities to
cooperate with Gibraltar while leaving the sovereignty
question aside.
The Spanish government also wants to recover the trust
of the Gibraltar citizens, because at the end of the
negotiations it will not be enough to recover the
territory, Moratinos said.
"The Spanish government is trying to recover the trust
of Gibraltarian citizens, so through the dialogue we can
find a solution that can help us to negotiate with the
United Kingdom, with serenity. So we can get our objective,
that I can repeat again, is to recover the sovereignty of
Gibraltar," he told reporters.
Straw said Gibraltar's Chief Minister Peter Caruana was
entirely content with a joint statement that Spain and
Britain would consult further on how to restart dialogue.
"We will always honour the wishes of the people of
Gibraltar as to their future, so unless they are there,
fully able to participate... there is, frankly, little
point in having the discussion," said Straw.
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