Malvinas: the government maneuvers with the European Union to keep him away from the United Kingdom

The Government is maneuvering for the European Union to change its position on Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands as part of the negotiations for the consolidation of the EU-Mercosur agreement. However, the European position is not unanimous in this regard, with more or less resistance according to special interests and a certain reserve as to the political calendar of Argentina.

Freed from the commitment to align automatically with the United Kingdom – by leaving the bloc -, the highest aspiration of the executive is to get the Europeans to adopt the same position as Mercosur, which calls on London for dialogue on the basis of United Nations resolutions. At the very least, the Alberto Fernández administration is satisfied with one abstention From you.

The maximum aspiration is that the Europeans take the same position as Mercosur, which urges London to dialogue on the basis of United Nations resolutions.

The question is part of the dialogues with European governments. He appeared, for example, on Monday during a video conference by International Economic Relations Secretary Jorge Neme and Portugal’s European Affairs Secretary Ana Paula Zacarías, as well as in a more technical tour today with the 27 diplomatic representatives of the bloc. However, It was not reported that the issue was addressed by heads of government Fernández and Antonio Costa in their video conference. the morning.

The government understands that Brexit is a chance to change the traditional position of the whole of Europe. And the interest of many of these countries to move forward in the remaining stages of the agreement could be another tool of advocacy during this first half of the year when Argentina assumes the provisional presidency of Mercosur. In this context, certain nuances of the agreement are explored – on issues such as appellations of origin and the environmental chapter – at the same time as obtaining certain commitments from Europe such as a declaration on the Falklands issue. .

In this sense, they read the recent request for clearance to fly Lufthansa as a positive sign. The German airline submitted the overflight and landing request to the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) and the Province of Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and the South Atlantic Islands. to operate two charter flights to the Falkland Islands from Hamburg – the first on Monday February 1 and the second on March 30 – and in both cases Ushuaia has been designated as an alternative airport to the islands. Lufthansa’s initial route through Cape Town, South Africa, had been suspended by the pandemic.

Before German “Polarstern” icebreaker, whose replacement crew was to travel on these flights, had already requested permission from the Argentine Naval Prefecture in January to enter Puerto Argentino via the German embassy in Buenos Aires. The two actions envisage a tacit recognition of Argentine sovereignty over the archipelago, they say from the Chancellery.

There are countries in Europe that insist on maintaining good ties with the British and even interpret this Argentinian behavior as beneficial.

The extent to which government pressure can affect Europe at the moment is not so clear. In particular, because the position of the 27 is no longer one and indivisible because of the commitments made. There are countries with special interests that can find greater proximity to Argentina, as in the case of Spain with its own territorial candidacy with the United Kingdom, around Gibraltar. In this sense, the government is even delighted to add its support for Brussels – irritated by its attraction to the British before leaving – through a close interlocutor such as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and security policy, Spanish Argentinian Josep Borrell.

European interlocutors do not give answers to government spokespersons

So, there are other countries that insist on maintaining good ties with the British and even interpret this Argentinian behavior as beneficial, sort of. They describe the United Kingdom as a “partner”, which remains European and with which they always seek to consolidate their own balanced position. For them, as difficult as it may seem, The Falklands are not a priority like Argentina is or an issue they are willing to fight the British over.

Low, some ambassadors admit they are uncomfortable with the government’s offensiveEven if this did not take anyone by surprise since they were already anticipating more energetic action from a Peronist government. And they stress that their priority is to preserve the economic interests of their countries in Argentina. Perhaps this is why the Government is pushing this dialogue alongside the stitches that remain in the overall deal between the blocs and by undertaking parallel actions from its embassies and diplomatic missions in Washington and to the United Nations.

Officially, European interlocutors do not provide answers to government spokespersons. “They listen and mark”, says official who witnessed some of the encounters. The same is happening with other issues that are discussed in the EU-Mercosur negotiations, the comprehensive treaty of which continues today through the stage of legal review and translations before signing. It will then be the turn of the legislatures to ratify it. A long road that will not end this year. Maybe by then a European consensus on the Falklands has already been reached.