Mauroy, Gonzalez to meet

Press, 10 March 1984, Page 10

Mauroy, Gonzalez to meet

NZPA-Reuter Madrid The French Prime Minister, Mr Pierre Mauroy, visits Spain today amid a row over French naval action against two Spanish trawlers which the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr Felipe Gonzalez, called a serious blow to Franco-Spanish relations. Spain has formally protested to France about the incident. It said nine fishermen were injured when a French gunboat opened fire while trying to detain the trawlers which were fishing illegally in European Community waters. “This incident clearly signifies a serious blow to Franco-Spanish relations,” Mr Gonzalez said. Mr Mauroy is visiting in his capacity as the Mayor of Lille to attend a meeting of the World Federation of Twin Cities, but officials said he was expected to lunch with Mr Gonzalez at the week-end, and they were likely to discuss the sea incident. The Right-wing opposition leader, Manuel Fraga, had called for the visit to be postponed, but officials said it would go ahead. The Spanish Foreign Ministry said the formal protest had been made after France had failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the naval action. France said its Navy had fired only after repeated warnings and violation by the trawlers of agreements between Spain and the European Community. Guy Lengagne, Secretary of State for Marine Affairs, said Spanish trawlers fishing illegally in Community waters controlled by France had often used force to avoid being stopped. “Last (northern) summer one of our inspectors was thrown into the sea by a Spanish boat,” he said. Spain condemned what it called military force used to deal with possible infringement of fishing rules by its trawlers. Two fishermen were seriously hurt in the incident. One had his leg amputated, said the Spanish Embassy in Paris. Diplomats said the incident could have serious repercussions as Spain negotiates its planned 1986 entry into the European Community, now under French chairmanship. Mr Gonzalez said the attack had come as relations improved after strains caused by French misgivings over Spanish entry. French statements of support for Community enlargement and a crackdown on suspected Spanish Basque separatist guerrillas in France were welcomed in Madrid as signs of a new spirit of co-operation between the two Socialist governments.

In his parts statement, Mr Lengagne said one of the Spanish trawlers in this week’s incident had violated Community fishing rules 37 times and the other 27 times in the last three years. French sailors had tried to board the vessels but were pushed away, he said. The gunboat fired warning shots to no avail and only then fired at one of the vessels. France had warned Spain it would carry out such an operation a day or two before. “The Spanish authorities must realise that they also have to make an effort, as all the others do,” Mr Lengagne said. “If they do not, we will again face situations such as this.” One crew member on the, trawlers said he thought they would return to the Bay of Biscay. “I don’t believe the French will dare fire a second time,” he told French television.

The Paris newspaper “Le Monde” said there was reason to be astonished at the surprise shown by Madrid over the incident.