UK Rules Out Joint Sovereignty Over Gibraltar With Spain After Brexit Vote

The United Kingdom will never accept joint sovereignty with Spain over Gibraltar, Minister of State for Europe David Lidington said Friday, as the country chose to leave the European Union.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – On Thursday, the United Kingdom held a referendum in which 51.9 percent of voters opted for the country to leave the bloc. Most of the country’s nationals voted to leave, yet the support for the "Remain" camp was overwhelming in Gibraltar, standing at 95.9 percent. Spanish acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said that the results of the vote would contribute to Madrid’s increased influence in the exclave.

"I know many will be concerned about the future. I want to be absolutely clear. The United Kingdom will continue to stand beside Gibraltar. We will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against your wishes. Furthermore, the UK will not enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content," Lidington said as quoted by the Evening Standard newspaper.