Spain, Argentina to discuss move against UK

 

 

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/12/318326/spain-argentina-to-talk-antiuk-move/

Spain may join Argentina in a diplomatic offensive against Britain over disputed territories, a report says.

Spanish Foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo is to discuss the issue with Argentinean authorities during a trip to Buenos Aires next month, according to a report published by Spanish newspaper El Pais on Sunday.

The report also said that the Spanish foreign ministry is considering taking its complaints over British-held territory Gibraltar to the United Nations Security Council or to its General Assembly.

Furthermore, Spain is looking into the option of denouncing Gibraltar to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for its “illegal occupation” of an area, called Isthmus, which connects the territory to the mainland. The land strip was not included in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht.

Margallo is scheduled to meet Argentina’s Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, whose administration is also in a long-standing dispute with Britain over the sovereignty of Malvinas Islands.

Spain vowed on August 9 to take all necessary measures to defend its interest in Gibraltar, after reports revealed that Britain is set to send naval ships to the territory.

Tension between the two countries arose after authorities in Gibraltar dumped 70 blocks of concrete in waters close the territory’s coast in mid-July, aimed at creating an artificial reef.

However, Spain denounced the action, saying the blocks had been dumped “without any type of authorization and breaking several environmental norms.”

In addition, Madrid said the concrete blocks seriously damaged the fishery, making it impossible for Spanish fishing boats to work in the area.

Gibraltar is one of the British Overseas Territories, which is on the United Nations list of areas waiting decolonisation.

The British territory was seized from Spain in 1713 and remains a bone of contention between the two European countries.


 

Bahrain backs Saudi plan to unify six Persian Gulf Arab states: report

(From R to L) the UAE premier, Bahrain’s King Hamad, Saudi King Abdullah, Omani deputy premier, the Qatari ruler and the Kuwaiti king (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/05/13/241046/bahrain-saudi-plan-unify-arab-states/

Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has declared Manama’s support for a Saudi plan to unify the six Arab states of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council, a report says.

According to a report published by the Saudi newspaper al-Riyadh on Sunday, the Bahraini premier said the “option of a union has become urgent.”

Riyadh is reportedly seeking to initially merge with Manama in line with a proposal to unify the six Arab states of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Leaders of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council states are expected to meet and discuss the Saudi proposal on May 14. The Arab states claim the purpose of the unity is to counter regional threats.

In December 2011, Saudi King Abdullah called on the council members to move “beyond the stage of cooperation and into the stage of unity in a single entity.”

The Bahraini premier told al-Riyadh the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council must “concentrate during this period on achieving and ensuring security and increasing coordination in the fields of security, military and defense by adopting a unified [Persian] Gulf security structure to protect the council’s states.”

Bahraini Information Minister Samira Rajab said on Saturday the idea of Arab union could follow the “European Union model.”

The report by al-Riyadh comes as Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of the main Bahraini opposition group, al-Wefaq, censured the unity proposal on Sunday, demanding a referendum on the issue to be held in all the six Arab countries.

“Bahrain gained its independence (in 1971) following a referendum” overseen by the United Nations, Salman said in a speech.

The Bahraini opposition leader also stated that the people of Bahrain “alone have the right” to decide and the ruling Al Khalifa regime has “no right to decide a union or confederation with any country.”

A committee of representatives from the six Arab states will submit its findings on the Saudi proposal to the meeting on Monday.

Putin proposes 'Eurasian Union'

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/202745.html

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called on former Soviet states to join hands for the creation of a Eurasian Union, while rejecting the notion that he was attempting to resurrect the USSR.

"It would be naive to try to restore or copy something that belongs to the past, but a close integration based on new values and economic and political foundation is a demand of the present time," Putin said in an article published in the Russian daily Izvestiya.

Putin said the alliance would become a powerful global player, serving as “one of the poles of the modern world” as well as an “efficient link between Europe and the dynamic Asia-Pacific region.”

He further added that an economic cooperation group consisting of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would come into force in 2012.

The three countries had during the past summer removed all customs barriers in mutual trade and are as of January 1 expected to introduce a set of collective market rules and regulations.

Putin further hinted that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are expected to join the new economic group.

He did, however, said that the development of the Eurasian Union was not meant to act as a hinder for the country's aspiration to establish closer ties with the European Union.