The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovič, assured yesterday that the negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar “are progressing as planned” and are entering “a sensitive stage”.
“The EU-UK negotiations on Gibraltar are progressing as planned,” Albares and Šefčovič said in a joint statement, released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “We are entering a sensitive stage of the negotiations,” they added.
On the EU side, the negotiations are promoted by the European Commission, under the political responsibility of its executive vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, who speaks on behalf of Brussels on this matter.
The statement comes after the vice president of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, stated, during an event in Seville, that the negotiation “takes longer than expected,” while predicting that it will not be possible to reach an agreement before the Europeans in June.
In an interview on RNE, Albares described as “very unfortunate and incomprehensible” the words of Schinas, with whom he said he has spoken, as well as with Maros Sefcovic, who is in charge of negotiating on behalf of the EU with London.
