London, UK. The future of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory of just over 2-square miles of rock on Spain’s southern tip, has become the first big dispute of Brexit since Prime Minister Theresa May filed formal divorce papers on March 29.
Gibraltar’s leader on Monday labeled EU Council President Donald Tusk as a “cuckolded husband taking it out on the kids” for explicitly proposing that Spain be given a veto over the relationship between the British enclave and the European Union after Brexit.
Tusk is blamed by some for starting the dispute, Gibraltar was given explicit mention in the EU distributed document Tusk was directly responsible for. The document clearly said Spain was specifically named as having a veto on the application of any future EU trade deal with Britain.
Gibraltar’s chief minister, Fabian Picardo, did not hold back stating,”Mr Tusk, who has been given to using the analogies of the divorce and divorce petition, is behaving like a cuckolded husband who is taking it out on the children.” He then added, “This is clear Spanish bullying.”
“The way that the European Council has behaved in allowing Spain to single out Gibraltar in this negative way is really quite pernicious,” Picardo said.
When asked if Gibraltar was now a bargaining chip in negotiations, he said: “The last time I looked at this monolithic rock of mine and of the people of Gibraltar it doesn’t look like a chip and its not going on any table.
“We are not going to be a chip and we are not going to be a victim of Brexit as we are not the culprits of Brexit: we voted to stay in the European Union so taking it out on us is to allow Spain to behave in the manner of the bully,” he said.
Picardo said the EU should remove the reference to Gibraltar, which voted overwhelmingly to stay in the EU, from the draft guidelines.