UK seeks to reassure Gibraltar in Brexit talks

FILE- In this file photo dated Wednesday, March 1, 2017, a woman walks on the Spanish side of the border between Spain and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar with the iconic Rock of Gibraltar in the background, in La Linea de la Concepcion, Southern Spain. Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Friday March 31, 2017, reassured Gibraltar that it will protect the territory’s interests in forthcoming Brexit talks on exiting the European Union, following Spain's assertion that it would have a veto over the territory’s future relationship with the trading bloc. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, FILE) (The Associated Press)

FILE- In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017 file photo, a Spanish flag flies on top of the customs house on the Spanish side of the border between Spain and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar with the Rock as a background, in La Linea de la Concepcion, Southern Spain. The EU's roadmap on Brexit negotiations leaves the U.K. and Spain to discuss what agreements will apply to Gibraltar, a dialogue in which Madrid could have the upper hand. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza, File) (The Associated Press)

Britain is seeking to reassure Gibraltar that it will protect the territory's interests in forthcoming talks on exiting the European Union.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson talked with Gibraltar's chief minister, Fabian Picardo, on Friday to assure him of the U.K.'s support after the EU suggested Spain would have a veto over the territory's future relationship with the trading bloc.

After the conversation, Johnson tweeted: "As ever, the U.K. remains implacable and rock-like in our support for Gibraltar."

Gibraltar says Spain is using the U.K.'s impending departure from the EU to force negotiations on the status of Gibraltar, a territory Spain has been trying to get back from Britain for 300 years.