/ world today news/ After a meeting with the authorities on the British island of Jersey, French fishermen decided to end their protest against fishing restrictions in British waters and began to return home, writes Le Monde. As the newspaper noted, the situation began to heat up earlier when France, in response to sending British warships to the conflict zone, also sent two patrol boats to ensure safety and preserve human life.
On the island of Jersey in the English Channel, the degree of tension gradually eased slightly: about 50 ships of French fishermen, who in the morning protested against the restrictions imposed by London, began to return to shore in the afternoon, reports Le Monde. Earlier, France sent two patrol boats to their aid after two British warships traveled to the conflict zone.
Ludovic Lazaro, a fisherman from Granville, France, told the newspaper that Jersey authorities ““Now the ministers have to negotiate. We can’t help with something more ”, he said after a meeting between the fishermen and the Jersey minister.
Dmitry Rogoff, chairman of the Normandy Regional Fisheries Committee, shares his opinion: “The show of force is over. It should be replaced by politicsand. ” He added that the fishermen should not blockade Jersey to achieve their goals: now, in the absence of a result, the French authorities should turn off the electricity on the island.
The publication recalls that on Tuesday the Minister of the Maritime Affairs Anick Girardin announced the readiness of France to resort to “countermeasures“, if London continues to restrict French sailors’ access to Jersey waters. In a speech to the National Assembly, she hinted that a possible consequence would be the cutting off of electricity to the island via the cable laid underwater by France.
In this tense atmosphere, around 50-70 French fishing boats gathered on Thursday morning outside St Helier, Jersey’s capital. Corroborating the fishermen’s assurances, Jersey Foreign Minister Jan Gorst said in an interview with the BBC that “so far this demonstration has been peaceful“. In response to such French actions, London sent two battleships “Tamar” and “Severn” to the conflict zone to “monitor the situation“.
Similar British “maneuvers’in the words of French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clement Bon, “they will not impress” the French. He said he had spoken to the British minister about relations with the EU and both sides were interested not in worsening the situation but in “prompt and full implementation of the provisions of the agreement for Brexit “.
Meanwhile, France also sent two patrol vessels to Jersey. The official representative of the Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and North Sea stressed that their task will be to ensure “safe navigation and preservation of human life at sea”. According to him, the ships will remain in French waters and will be ready to intervene if the situation worsens – “for example, if a person falls into the sea”.
French Maritime Affairs Minister Anick Girardin also said she had made a request to the European Commission, which is the only one authorized to negotiate with the UK. The minister asked the EU governing body to get “clarifications” from London regarding the situation.
As a representative of the European Commission recalled on Monday in an interview with France Press, the parties to the Brexit agreement must notify in advance of any new condition so that the other party can “commented and everything adapt” to the changes. In addition, the official stressed, “such conditions cannot discriminate against European fishermen”.
Channel fishing has been a hot-button issue throughout the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Despite the agreement reached between London and Brussels, the access of European fishermen to British waters remains controversial, writes Le Monde.
Translation: ES
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