Spain tries to rule out Gibraltar veto

In a newspaper interview on 30 October 2001, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Josep Pique, warned Britain not to give the population of Gibraltar the right to vote on any solution that the two countries might find to the issue of sovereignty of the colony. Britain has set itself the target of finding a solution to the Gibraltar sovereignty issue by the end of 2002. 'The people of Gibraltar cannot have the right of veto over matters being discussed by two sovereign states' said Mr Pique, but Gibraltar's government said on 30 October 2001 that it would not attend any meetings between the UK and Spain unless the UK Foreign Office gave written assurances that it would have a veto. To find full text of article use 'Advanced search' on homepage.