Malvinas: UN has again called for resumption of negotiations between Argentina and UK for sovereignty

The Governing Council of the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization (C24) unanimously ratified its “support for the resumption of negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom to find a peaceful solution to the controversy over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands ”., as officially indicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs, Felipe Solá.

This resolution was adopted after a virtual meeting with Daniel Filmus, Secretary of the Falklands, Antarctica and South Atlantic of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In August 2020, the C24, which is the main organ of the United Nations for decolonization, had already pronounced on the question in the same direction. This board of directors is made up of representatives from Grenada (which holds the presidency), Cuba, Indonesia and Sierra Leone (in the three vice-presidencies) and Syria (as rapporteur).

After a presentation of Filmus, the members of the Bureau of the Commission on Decolonization “reaffirmed their support for the mission of good offices entrusted to the Secretary General of the United Nations by resolution 37/9 of 1982, with a view to resuming negotiations. with the United Kingdom. as a means to end the dispute ”. This was expressed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Filmus, who shared the news on his Twitter account, where he also included a video, reaffirmed Argentina’s “legitimate rights over the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, the South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime areas” and called on the UK “to resume negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty controversy.”

The official went on to argue that “Argentina finds unacceptable the UK’s persistence in ignoring the call for bilateral negotiations that the (United Nations) General Assembly conducted over 55 years ago through of resolution 2065 and that it was reaffirmed by other 9 resolutions of this body and 37 resolutions of the Decolonization Committee ”.

Resolution 2065 was approved at the UN on December 16, 1965 by 94 votes in favor, 14 abstentions, no votes against and 9 absent countries and recognizes that there is a sovereignty dispute between the UK and Argentina over the Falklands.

The Chairman of the Committee, Ambassador of Grenada Keisha McGuire, recalled “the resolution adopted by the Committee of 24 August 2020” and declared that the body “Will continue to support all efforts to resume negotiations”. Meanwhile, Cuba “reiterated its support for Argentina’s sovereign rights in the Falklands issue and underlined the constructive position consistently shown by Argentina, which contrasted with the lack of British responses.”

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement “The Syrian delegation added its support for the full restoration of Argentine sovereignty over all the territories and maritime spaces usurped by the United Kingdom and the need to put an end to the colonial situation in the South Atlantic.” And the representatives of Sierra Leone and Indonesia “stressed the importance of the call for Argentine-British negotiations to resolve the sovereignty dispute. and they expressed their support for the efforts that the Decolonization Committee was developing in this regard and for the good offices of the Secretary General of the United Nations ”.

Filmus stressed to the members of the Board of Directors “the importance of the statements of the Special Committee for Decolonization and the mission of good offices entrusted to the Secretary General of the United Nations (the Portuguese Antonio Guterres).

In this sense, “he underlined the unanimous approval of a law creating the National Council for Questions relating to the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime areas, headed by the President of the Nation and made up of representatives of the main political forces, academia and science and ex-combatants, ”said the Chancellery.

The official also reported on Argentina’s efforts last year at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels to resume negotiations and fulfill the mandate of the international community, while the UK maintained its refusal to negotiate.

Since its creation, the government of Alberto Fernandez made the Falklands cause a priority. By August 2020, he had secured significant support for his intention to negotiate with the British again. This resolution, which was adopted by consensus, was co-sponsored by all Latin American countries that are members of the Special Committee: Chile, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

The Special Committee on Decolonization, created in 1961 as a subsidiary organ of the United Nations General Assembly, is responsible for ensuring the implementation of resolution 1514 (XV) of the United Nations General Assembly and annually examines the 17 remaining situations. They await decolonization, passing resolutions aimed at ending colonialism.

This call by the United Nations to resume negotiations between the two nations is shared by various multilateral forums, such as the Organization of American States (OAS), Mercosur, the Group of 77 plus China, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) and the Ibero-American Summits, among others, underlined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Of the 17 situations awaiting decolonization, 10 concern the United Kingdom.

On December 26, by the deadline set, the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) reached a trade agreement to implement the Brexi and this arrangement brought good news for the Argentine claim. New rules of the game agreed with the regional bloc have left out the disputed British overseas territories, including the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands which are in dispute territorial and therefore the archipelago has lost the commercial, fiscal and customs advantages in the exchange of islanders with the countries that make up the community block.

More recently, on January 6, Argentina repudiated the military movements that the forces of the United Kingdom (soldiers of the Grenadiers Guards and Scots Guards in collaboration with the forces of the Royal Air Force Royal Navy) were leading in the Falklands.

I continued to read:

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Brexit: the European Union has excluded the Falkland Islands from the agreement with the United Kingdom and Argentina’s claim is strengthened

Usurpation of the Malvinas: an undecided governor, an English power and too defenseless islands