Argentina objected to the referendum made in 2013 between the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands and whose favorable result to remain under the British flag, the United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, demanded this Thursday that it be respected by Argentina and the European Union (EU).
"Dear Secretary James Cleverly: The United Kingdom has been violating Argentina's territorial integrity for 190 years. I remind you that, according to UN General Assembly resolution 1514, self-determination does not apply to the inhabitants of the Malvinas," Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said on Twitter.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship thus responded to a message published this Thursday, also on Twitter, by Cleverly, in which he said that the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands (the name given by the British to the Malvinas, an archipelago in the South Atlantic whose sovereignty is claimed by Argentina) "have the right to choose their own future."
Cleverly recalled that 99,8% of the islanders "voted to be part of the British family," referring to the referendum held a decade ago in which the islanders, descendants of British settlers, expressed themselves in favor of maintaining the archipelago's status as an overseas territory dependent on the United Kingdom, a referendum that Argentina has always considered illegal.
London's claim to the EU
"Argentina and the EU should listen to their democratic choice," said Cleverly, after the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) issued a joint declaration on Tuesday, in the framework of the summit of heads of state held in Brussels, in which they refer to the question of sovereignty of the Malvinas.
Cafiero considered that the "alleged referendum" invoked by Cleverly "has no value under international law and does not modify what is stipulated by the more than 50 resolutions of the United Nations, nor the obligation of the United Kingdom to put an end to colonialism in all its forms and resolve the dispute peacefully."
The Argentine foreign minister also expressed his gratitude for "the recent categorical statements by CELAC and the EU in this regard."
The EU-CELAC statement states that, "on the issue of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, the EU took note of the historical position of CELAC based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful resolution of disputes," and reaffirms the commitment to "the sovereign equality of all States and respect for their territorial integrity."
This Thursday, the British Government criticized the EU for having validated the use of the Argentine name Malvinas together with that of the Falklands in the final declaration of the Brussels summit.
In 1982, Argentina and the United Kingdom clashed over the Malvinas in a war that ended in a British triumph and claimed the lives of 649 Argentines, 255 British and three islanders.
