In the South Atlantic, in the Argentinean sea, some 600 kilometers from the coasts of Patagonia, lies the archipelago of the Malvinas Islands, whose sovereignty is tirelessly claimed by Argentina, in view of the illegal occupation of that territory by the United Kingdom since 1833.
Buenos Aires, March 4 (RHC)-- Argentina has called on the United Kingdom to launch new talks over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, a disputed archipelago in the South Atlantic. On Thursday, the Argentinian foreign ministry announced the government’s plans to revisit its claim over the islands, known as the Falklands to the British.
Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero has “formulated a proposal to restart negotiations for sovereignty over the Malvinas Question”, the ministry said in a statement following a meeting with UK officials. The decision effectively ends the 2016 Foradori-Duncan pact, a non-binding statement to agree to disagree on the sovereignty of the islands, in favor of improving relations on trade and security.
Argentina’s announcement was met with strong criticism in the UK, which also claims authority over the Islands. The two sides had been engaged in talks in New Delhi, India, this week at the Group of 20 (G20) summit, which concluded on Thursday.
After meeting with Cafiero, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly took to Twitter to blast Argentina’s plan to revisit talks over the Malvinas. “The Falkland Islands are British,” he wrote on Thursday. “Islanders have the right to decide their own future — they have chosen to remain a self-governing UK Overseas Territory.”
His views were echoed by David Rutley, the UK’s minister for the Americas and the Caribbean, who called the announcement “a disappointing decision” after his recent visit to Buenos Aires.
The archipelago, which sits about 600 kilometres (373 miles) off the coast of Argentina, is home to an estimated 3,200 people from 60 countries, according to its government. Currently, the UK identifies the islands as a self-governing overseas territory.
In Thursday’s announcement, Argentina called for the question of the islands’ sovereignty to be resolved before the United Nations.
