The NATO Secretariat has regular exchanges of views with the
Malta Government's representative in Brussels on matters of
mutual interest.
20.
As regards Gibraltar, you will know from the Referendum
held there in September 1967, which was attended by a team of
observers organised by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, that
the people of Gibraltar voted by over 12,000 votes to 44 to
retain their link with the United Kingdom rather than to pass
under Spanish sovereignty. Notwithstanding this clear indica-
tion of the inhabitants' own view of where their interests lay,
the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolutions in both
1967 and 1968 which in effect call on Britain to hand over
Gibraltar to Spain. Some Commonwealth Governments voted for
these Resolutions.
But Article 73 of the U.N. Charter obliges
us to regard the interests of the inhabitants of dependent
territories as paramount; it is hard to see how we could carry
out this obligation by handing over the Gibraltarians, against
their freely and democratically expressed wishes, to a
Government which has done them considerable harm.
21.
Spain, in an attempt to convince the Gibraltarians of
the "error" of their ways, has, since 1964, been implementing a
series of restrictive measures against the Gibraltarians.
Except for those with special passes the land frontier is closed
to all except Spanish workmen; the Spanish authorities have
closed the frontier to all vehicular traffic; they have imposed
restrictions on flights over territory and waters close to
Gibraltar; and they have held up the movements of visitors using
the ferry operating between Gibraltar and Algeciras.
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