The Argentine Foreign Ministry wanted to negotiate with Britain on the return of the Falkland Islands
The new Argentine authorities called on Britain to return the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). This is stated in a statement on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Latin American country.
According to the ministry, London committed an “act of force in peacetime” that was contrary to international law and was never approved by the Argentine government.
191 years after the illegal occupation of the Malvinas Islands, the Government and people of Argentina reaffirm their legitimate and inalienable rights of sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and their surrounding maritime areas
Previously, the new President of Argentina, Javier Miley, said that he plans to consider various diplomatic avenues to return the Falklands. He bases his tactics on a similar incident in history—the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. At the same time, China supported Argentina’s territorial claims to Britain, calling for an end to “colonial thinking.”
London refuses to review the status of the Falkland Islands
Britain has no plans to review the status of the Falkland Islands. So in November 2023, the office of the British Prime Minister responded to Argentina’s claims.
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“This is a long-resolved issue; there are no plans to return to it. The position of the Falkland Islands was determined a long time ago and will not be changed,” said 10 Downing Street.
Last March, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley also rejected calls to return to negotiations over the ownership of the Falkland Islands. He stated that these islands belong to Great Britain.
The diplomat emphasized that this decision was made by the residents of the Falkland Islands themselves during the 2013 referendum – then 99.8 percent of residents voted to retain the status of a British overseas territory for the Falklands.
The dispute over the ownership of the Falklands has lasted two centuries.
Argentina claims the islands – about 600 kilometers from its South Atlantic coastline – were illegally seized by Britain, which believes it has a territorial claim dating back to 1765.
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The centuries-old dispute escalated into a two-month war between the two countries in 1982, after Argentina's attempt to seize the territory by force prompted Britain to send a naval task force to retake the islands. The war over the disputed islands lasted 74 days and ended in victory for the British crown.
The issue was raised again in March 2023 when Argentina withdrew from a 2016 cooperation agreement covering issues such as energy, shipping and fisheries but not sovereignty, and demanded a return to negotiations on the islands.
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