If only the Malvinas: Argentina is once again trying to take the islands from Britain
Against the background of the transfer of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius by Great Britain earlier this week, Argentina is once again trying to resume dialogue on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). Buenos Aires turned to London with this proposal. The territorial dispute has been going on for almost 200 years, and a new round began in 1946, when the Argentine authorities did not recognize British sovereignty over the islands at the UN General Assembly, and the British delegation did not recognize Argentine sovereignty. In a referendum in 2013, the majority of islanders voted to maintain the status of the Territory under the control of London. Argentina did not recognize the results of the vote. Details of the confrontation can be found in the Izvestia article.
Argentina urged to resume dialogue with the UK on the sovereignty of the Falklands: what happened
A year after the latest attempt, the Argentine authorities called on Britain to resume negotiations on the disputed Falkland Islands (Argentina calls the archipelago the Malvinas Islands). This is stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country. Calls to return to dialogue were made after the events of May 22, when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the signing of an agreement with Mauritius on the transfer of the Chagos archipelago in the center of the Indian Ocean under its sovereignty. The document implies the preservation of a British-American military base on Diego Garcia Island.
American B-1 Lancer strategic bombers at Diego Garcia Air Base
According to Keir Starmer, this is a critically important step for the security and intelligence activities of Britain and the safety of the local population. At the same time, the deal almost fell through. Human rights activists have filed a lawsuit with the court demanding to suspend the conclusion of the agreement due to the fact that the agreement does not ensure the rights of the indigenous people of Chagos. The judge of the High Court of England temporarily blocked the signing of the document. But on May 22, the court lifted the temporary ban.
Under the terms of the deal, the UK will pay Mauritius £101 million ($136 million) per year. In addition, a strict ban on the presence of foreign security forces on the outer islands remains in place, and a 24-mile buffer zone is being established around Diego Garcia Island, where any construction is prohibited without British permission.
Against this background, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the country welcomes the signing of the agreement between London and Port Louis regarding the Chagos archipelago and appreciates that the result was achieved through negotiations. This event is of historical importance in the process of decolonization, according to the country's Foreign Ministry.
"In this context, Argentina once again calls on the United Kingdom to resume negotiations on the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, South Georgia Islands, South Sandwich Islands and adjacent maritime territories, as established by UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2065. The restoration of Argentina's full sovereignty over these territories and maritime spaces is a constant goal of the country's foreign policy," the ministry said in a statement.
The conflict between Argentina and Great Britain over the Falklands: what is known
The Falkland Islands (Malvinas) are located in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, near Argentina. According to the UN, the area of the archipelago is 12,173 square kilometers, and the population is about 4,500 people.
The territorial dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands has been going on for about 200 years. Great Britain annexed the archipelago in 1833.
The British aircraft carrier Hermes is heading to the conflict zone. May 1982
Since 1946, the islands have been included in the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, that is, those "whose peoples have not yet achieved full self-government."
During the first session of the UN General Assembly in 1946, the Argentine delegation made a reservation, the meaning of which was that the Government of the country did not recognize British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. The British delegation, in turn, refused to recognize Argentine sovereignty over the islands.
The Special Committee on Decolonization (a subsidiary body of the General Assembly) has been considering the issue of the Falkland Islands since 1964. In 1965, the General Assembly adopted resolution 2065, in which it called on Argentina and the United Kingdom to "immediately begin negotiations", taking into account the interests of the people of the Falkland Islands.
British soldiers on the march during the Falklands War. May 1982
In April 1982, an armed conflict broke out between the two countries. At the beginning of the fighting, Argentina took control of the islands. And in May and June, the United Kingdom imposed a blockade on the islands, landed troops, which forced the Argentine troops on the island to capitulate. As a result, Argentina was defeated in the conflict. In 2.5 months of fighting, the country lost 649 military personnel. The losses of Great Britain amounted to 255 people.
In 2013, at the initiative of the island authorities, a referendum was held on the status of the Falklands "in order to prove the groundlessness of the territorial claims of Argentina, which disputes the British rights to the islands." With a turnout of 92%, only 3 people voted against retaining the status of the territory for Great Britain, and about 99% voted in favor. Argentina did not recognize the results of the referendum at that time.
In March 2023, Argentina withdrew from the agreement with Great Britain on the Falklands.
The British destroyer Sheffield, damaged by an anti-ship missile as a result of an attack by an Argentine aircraft. May 1982
"We should not expect any critical stories, breakups or negative scenarios in the development of bilateral relations. For Britain, this was a typical management format for such disputed territories. But it should be noted that for Britain they are not controversial, but at the same time they allow a third party to build economic cooperation with them," Sergei Shein, academic director of the Graduate School of International Relations and Foreign Regional Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, commented on the situation to Izvestia at the time.
At the end of 2023, during the election campaign, the elected President of Argentina, Javier Miley, said that the islands belong to Argentina and we need to think about how to return these territories. "It is absolutely clear that war is not the solution. We fought and lost, so now we need to make every effort to return the islands using diplomatic channels," Miley said.
Monument to Argentine soldiers who died during the Falklands War
In response, the head of the British Ministry of Defense, Grant Shapps, said that the Falkland Islands belong to Great Britain and the issue is non-negotiable. According to him, the British will always defend the right of the island's inhabitants to self-determination and the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
In a YouGov EuroTrack poll conducted in 2024, 57% of British residents voted that power over the Falklands should belong to the kingdom, while 16% of respondents believed that Argentina should control the territories.
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