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Buenos Aires, December 2 (RHC)-- Argentina has forcefully rejected the announcement of new military exercises in the Malvinas Islands that the British infantry army will carry out jointly with the Kosovo security forces under the pretense of being a "Peace Mission."

The Argentinean Foreign Affairs Ministry "will carry out a strong formal protest before the United Kingdom.  It constitutes an unjustified show of force and a deliberate departure from the calls of numerous international resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA).

The arrival of Kosovar troops in the South Atlantic violates UN Resolution 31/49, which urges Argentina and the United Kingdom not to adopt unilateral decisions that entail the introduction of changes in the situation of the islands while the negotiation process is taking place.

The British military presence also contradicts UNGA Resolution 41/11 on the "zone of peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic," which exhorts States to respect the South Atlantic as a "peace and cooperation zone" by reducing their military presence in that region.

The Argentinean Foreign Ministry also recalled that its nation does not recognize the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo in 2008, since Argentina voted in favor of the UNGA Resolution 1244 in 1999, which has elements related to the Malvinas issue, especially with regard to regional integrity and the settlement of disputes through negotiation. 

The conflict over the Malvinas archipelago began in 1829 when the Argentine government created the Malvinas Political and Military Command.  In 1833, however, the United Kingdom occupied the archipelago and evicted its inhabitants and local authorities.

Finally, Argentina and the UK clashed over the Malvinas in a war that began in April 1982 with the landing of Argentine troops in the archipelago and ended with their surrender to British forces three months later. In this war, 649 Argentines, 255 British, and 3 islanders died.