Wednesday 13 February 2013

Gibraltar Friction - A 94m Spanish warship, TORNADO, an armed patrol vessel, which typically carries special forces and marines, was spotted cruising irregularly and warned repeatedly to leave British waters. The incursion lasted 19 minutes.   The Gibraltar Squadron with its two 16 m (52’ 6”) Fast Patrol Boats (SCIMITAR and SABRE) are supported by three (3) Arctic 6.5 m (21’ 42) rigid hulled inflatable boats, would struggle to enforce the request to leave.     The Foreign Office lodged a diplomatic protest with Madrid over the most serious episode of sabre-rattling off the Rock in half a century.     Is the current situation similar to that in the Falkland Islands where an unpopular government in Argentina has seen a territorial dispute as part of the solution to a little local difficulty.  The major difference is of course that Spain is an ally within NATO and a partner in the European Union.

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