A British war ship set sail for the Mediterranean on Tuesday amid diplomatic tensions between Britain and Spain over the contested British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The HMS Westminster frigate will dock in Gibraltar as part of a Royal Naval deployment of ten vessels to the Mediterranean and Gulf.
The departure of the ship from Portsmouth, played down by the British and Spanish governments as part of a long planned, routine exercise, has underscored heightened tensions over the territory.
A helicopter carrier also left Portsmouth for Gibraltar on Monday.
Britain has warned Spain it might take legal action to try to force Madrid to abandon tighter controls at the border with Gibraltar in what it called an “unprecedented” step against a European ally.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said the Spanish border checks, imposed after Gibraltar created an artificial reef which Spain said blocked its fishing vessels, were “disproportionate” and “politically motivated”.
Tensions over the rocky outpost at the mouth of the Mediterranean, to which Spain lays claim, have turned into one of the worst rows in years between the two European Union states.
Opposition politicians in Spain have accused Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of using the situation to distract Spaniards from the country’s severe recession and a corruption scandal.
Spain has said it will not back down over the border controls, which it says are a legal and proportionate step to prevent money laundering and the smuggling of tobacco and other products.
If Britain chooses to test whether those restrictions breach EU law on freedom of movement, the case is likely to end up in the European Court of Justice. Judgments there can take years, although special cases can be fast-tracked. – SABC