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Hon Friend the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary has
had a series of meetings with the Spanish Foreign
Minister and will see him again soon. The Lisbon
process remains the best way of managing all our
differences with Spain over Gibraltar. It also
explicitly reaffirms our commitment to the people of
Gibraltar.
18. My Lords, a foreign affairs speech which touches
every possible topic is like a guided tour on which the
bus stops too often. In either case the impression
left is blurred. Before concluding therefore I shall
mention only three other subjects, each of which shows
the need to react to new developments. The first is
Ethiopia.
The appalling drought there has led Britain
and the Community to respond quickly to the pressing
need. Our share of the special EC programme will be
about £4.5 million, in addition to the relief we have
sent bilaterally. I wish the Ethiopian regime's
Communist supporters were doing even half as much to
help as the Community is. The second is the case of
the Durban Consulate. This problem was not of our
making. We have sought to react sensibly throughout,
taking proper account of the humanitarian aspects. We
condemn the South African Government's decision to
retaliate by breaking its commitment to return the four
men involved in the Coventry arms case. The last
subject is Cyprus. I visited the island in October
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