UK slams Spain over violation of sovereignty after Gibraltar incursions

(MENAFN- Jordan News Agency) The British government late Sunday accused Spain of violating its sovereignty over Gibraltar, saying Spanish state vessels had repeatedly and unlawfully entered its territorial waters without notifying it.

Britain's Foreign Office Minister, Hugo Swire, said "We understand that the Spanish were in pursuit of vessels who may have been committing crimes, however it is completely unacceptable and unlawful under the international law of the sea to enter our waters without notifying us." "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," he added.

Located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, Gibraltar is an area of 6.8 square kilometers. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is a major source of tension between the UK and Spain.

The tension began in 1704 when an Anglo-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain during the war of the Spanish succession. The territory was then ceded to Britain under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.