Walter Finch
THE Spanish foreign minister has flown to London for talks with his British counterpart ahead of crunch treat talks in Brussels on Thursday.
David Lammy hosted a working lunch with Jose Manuel Albares at Carlton House Terrace, the official residence of the British foreign minister, to thrash out the details of a post-Brexit border deal.
“Today we will work on a future agreement to ensure that we create this zone of shared prosperity between Gibraltar and the 300,000 Andalucians who are connected with the Rock every day,” Albares told reporters at the start of the meeting.
“We believe that it is in the interests of everyone that the United Kingdom comes as close as possible to the European Union.”
Lammy said that the UK shared these goals to achieve ‘prosperity and security for the people of Gibraltar with a new treaty that cements the relationship with Spain and the European Union.’
It chimes well with the new Labour government’s sought after ‘reset’ in relations with the European Union after the rocky Brexit era.
The foreign ministers will then meet again in Brussels on Thursday September 16, this time with Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and EU Vice President Maros Sefcovic.
It will represent one of the last remaining chances to strike a deal before November 10, when new EU-wide border controls come into effect that will complicate life for those crossing the frontier between Spain and Gibraltar.
Sources on the Spanish side have said that the negotiating teams are ‘already in extra time.’
It is thought that most aspects have been agreed upon – however the areas still outstanding involve the ‘red lines’ upon which neither side seems willing to compromise.
The main sticking point is believed to be control over Gibraltar’s entry points of the airport and port, with Spanish sources insisting their uniformed officers should be present at both.
Both the Spanish and British governments are keen to strike a deal as quickly as possible, yet the latter has made it clear that it will not force an agreement upon Gibraltar.
And Picardo struck a truculent tone during last week’s Gibraltar Day celebrations, declaring: “We will never surrender our British sovereignty or any part of it.?For any price. For any deal. For any benefit.
“I will only do a treaty if and when it is safe and secure,” he told crowds gathered in Casemates Square.
“Even if that means it takes longer. And even if that means that the deal never comes. Because we are not going to change our position on our fundamentals.
“We are not going to betray our ancestors and forefathers who suffered sieges and hardships to defend our land. Not for fear of new systems or longer queues or a harder Brexit.”
