International Shia News Agency

UK accuses Spain of violating Gibraltar sovereignty

SHAFAQNA - The British government on Sunday accused Spain of violating its sovereignty over Gibraltar repeatedly and unlawfully, and said it would raise the matter with Madrid in a report in Deutche Welle.

The complaints comes after Spanish customs officials chased suspected drug smugglers onto a beach in Gibraltar early on Sunday. Gibraltar authorities complained that Spanish police had failed to notify them.

British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire has said that the actions were “completely unacceptable and unlawful” under the international law of the sea.

“These repeated incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters are a clear violation of UK sovereignty by another EU country and we will be raising this as a matter of urgency with the Spanish authorities,” said Swire.

The chase reportedly began in the early hours of Sunday, some 18 kilometers (11 miles) out at sea in the Strait of Gibraltar. It ended on the shoreline at Gibraltar’s Sandy Bay, a beach on the eastern side of the island.

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