British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sent two Royal Navy patrol boats to protect the island of Jersey from a feared blockade of French fishing vessels, in an escalation of a dispute over post-Brexit access to the waters around the Channel Island. 20 kilometers from Normandy: the Guardian writes.
The move follows last night’s talks between the premier and British Crown Dependency Chief Minister John Le Fondré, who had warned Downing Street of impending movements by French fishing vessels to cut off the island’s main port. The government of Jersey had already resented yesterday’s comments by the French minister for maritime affairs, Annick Girardin, who warned that the island’s electricity supply could be cut off in retaliation for the French fishing fleet’s lack of access to its waters.
In response, President Macron decided to send two patrol boats from the Paris fleet.
“The new conditions that limit the activities of European fishing vessels in British waters imposed by the United Kingdom do not respect the provisions of the post Brexit agreement on fisheries”, a spokesman for the EU Commission intervened in the dispute. “Until we have received further justifications from the British authorities, we believe they should not be applied.”