Deputy Chief Minister Dr Joseph Garcia has stressed the importance of promoting a greater understanding of Gibraltar in the United States at a time of significant global uncertainty, describing Gibraltar as a symbol of strength, security and stability in a rapidly changing world.

Dr Garcia is currently in Washington for an intensive programme of political and diplomatic engagements. The Deputy Chief Minister has a packed schedule of meetings with senior political figures and officials, including meetings with both Democrat and Republican Members of the United States Congress, with more than twenty engagements planned over the course of two and a half days.

The Government’s policy remains to ensure Gibraltar’s position is consistently communicated to key decision-makers in the United States. Dr Garcia has used these meetings to discuss the wider strategic and commercial interests shared by Gibraltar and the United States.

He has provided an update on the UK-EU Treaty on Gibraltar and explained how the resolution of this matter will improve the lives of citizens in the wider interests of all concerned.

Discussions have also focused on evolving geopolitical challenges in the Atlantic and Mediterranean regions and the continued important location of Gibraltar.

The Deputy Chief Minister will conclude the visit with a meeting at the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D.C. before departing directly for the airport on Thursday.

The Deputy Chief Minister said: “This visit coincided with the presence in Gibraltar of a US Ohio-class ballistic missile nuclear submarine, a powerful symbol of the enduring relationship between Gibraltar and the United States Navy, which stretches back more than two hundred years.

"It is worth recalling that the first military action undertaken by the emerging US Navy during the First Barbary War in 1801 was launched from Gibraltar.

"During World War I, around forty US warships, together with a US Admiral and approximately four thousand sailors, were based on the Rock to escort merchant convoys in and out of the Mediterranean.

"The presence of General Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II, before he later became President of the United States, is perhaps the best-known connection. Indeed, Eisenhower was the first non-British person in modern times to command Gibraltar.

"These deep and meaningful ties continue to be valued in the United States, where historical bonds of this kind resonate strongly.

"The past is almost as important as the future. So we discussed that future through the prism of what has come before,” he said.