Over twenty meetings in Washington for Deputy Chief Minister

The Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia is in Washington where he is scheduled to hold over twenty meetings in just over two days.

This continues the policy of the Gibraltar Government to engage with decision-makers in the United States of America in order to put across the Gibraltar point of view over a wide range of issues.

Dr Garcia will be meeting with Members of Congress from both the Democratic and the Republican parties.

He will first meet Congressman George Holding who is a good friend of the United Kingdom and of Gibraltar.

The Congressman has tabled a Resolution before the House of Representatives which recognises the right of the people of Gibraltar to determine their own future as a British Overseas Territory.

The Resolution, which started with six supporters, now has 42 signatories on a cross-partisan basis.

The Congressman has also led a number of US Congressional visits to Gibraltar under the UK MEACA programme and was awarded the Gibraltar Medallion of Honour last year.

According to the Government, there is considerable interest in Washington on the impact that the decision to leave the European Union will have on Gibraltar.

In particular, decision-makers want to know whether Spain will seek to take unfair advantage of our EU departure for reasons which have nothing to do with Brexit.