Jun 27 - Senior UK Military Commander Calls on Guardia Civil to ‘Cease Reckless Behaviour’
During a routine visit to Gibraltar, Commander of Joint Forces Command for the UK, General Sir Richard Barrons met with the Commander of British Forces, the Governor and the Chief Minister to discuss routine matters regarding the Forces in Gibraltar. General Barons manages joint capabilities from the three armed services, including those at the UK’s Gibraltar and Cyprus bases.
During his time on the Rock, he spoke with the CBF on a range of ‘military, welfare and command issues’. Commenting on the current dispute between Gibraltar and Spain, that sees regular incursions by Spanish vessels in BGTW, the Commander noted that the dispute is not a new one. He added, ‘it’s 300 years old so we should have a sense of history about it. We should recognize that these are issues with political and legal principle behind them, which don’t appear to me to be getting any closer to a resolution.’
Speaking on his involvement in the matter, the Commander said that he plays a small part in it, which is primarily to ‘enforce the sovereignty of UK waters’. He added that there is a ‘well established procedure for doing that.’ He continued on the matter, noting that his greatest hope was that the UK and Spain ‘will come to an accommodation where they may agree to disagree but remove the friction from this. It seems to me that it’s the local friction in UK territorial waters, which is a source of understandable concern to the people of Gibraltar, but it would be a mistake to make an even bigger fight of it. My strong advice to people, particularly the Guardia Civil, is to cease behaving in a reckless and unprofessional way because that’s going to result eventually in accident or injury.’
Commander General Sir Richard is one of the most senior members of the military in the UK, reporting directly to the Chief of the Defence Staff. He insisted that he regularly interacts with the Foreign Office in London ‘so they’re clear what’s happening’. The Commander also noted that they have an understanding between them about how the Government will raise these matters politically, in Madrid. He went on to say that the UK military discusses many matters with Spain, who continue to be NATO partners with the UK, although they very rarely talk about Gibraltar.
The Commander went on to reiterate how important Gibraltar was strategically as a military base, for access to the rest of Europe and particularly to the Mediterranean and North Africa. ‘Although people come and go, geography stays the same and Gibraltar is in a strategically important place.’
