Valen Iricibar 
Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Santiago Cafiero and his British counterpart James Cleverly crossed swords on Twitter on Thursday over the Malvinas Islands. It came after the dispute over the islands’ sovereignty was mentioned in a closing statement signed by leaders of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC, by its Spanish initials).
“Regarding the question of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas / Falkland Islands, the European Union took note of CELAC’s historical position based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful solution of disputes,” reads point 13 of the statement released following the two-day summit.
The crux of the tensions was the name used for the islands and a referendum in which 99.8% of the islanders voted to remain a British territory in March 2013 with a 92% turnout. Argentina’s position is that the self-determination argument cannot be applied to the situation in the Malvinas because the United Kingdom has occupied the territories, and has thus long controlled migratory flows
Cleverly, the British Foreign Secretary, tweeted on Thursday lunchtime that the islanders “have the right to choose their own future.”
“99.8% of Falkland Islanders voted to be part of the UK family,” Cleverly said. “Argentina and the EU should listen to their democratic choice.”
While the UK refers to the islands as the Falkland Islands, this name is strongly rejected by Argentina.
Cafiero responded with Argentina’s position that the self-determination argument cannot be applied to the Malvinas situation given the United Kingdom’s 190-year occupation.
“The alleged ‘referendum’ you mention is not valid in international law, nor does it change what was stated in the more than 50 United Nations resolutions or the UK’s obligation to put an end to every form of colonialism and resolve the dispute peacefully,” Cafiero said.
“In a world where international relations must be based on rules, respect for International Law and, especially, the territorial integrity of Nations, is essential.”
It is the first time the EU has included the dispute in a closing declaration at an international forum and the Argentine Foreign Office hailed its inclusion as a “diplomatic triumph.” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak criticized the CELAC declaration, calling it a “regrettable choice of words” and demanding the EU “clarify its position” on the Malvinas’ sovereignty. EU sources told the Guardian that it could not take any official position on the matter without a council mandate.
“We welcome that the EU has now rightly clarified that their position on the Falklands has not changed,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told the Herald in a statement.
Legislative representatives of the Malvinas Islands published a statement saying they were “hugely disappointed that it has been decided […] to refer to our Islands by the name given to us by our aggressive and hostile neighbor Argentina.”
This isn’t the first time Cafiero and Cleverly have crossed swords on social media. When Argentina withdrew from the Foradori-Duncan treaty in early March during the G-20 summit, with Cafiero calling for renewed bilateral talks about the sovereignty of the Malvinas at the United Nations, the move caused similar public reactions from officials from both countries.
“Once again I bring to you our proposal from March 2 in the margins of the G-20 Summit: to adopt a new bilateral agenda regarding the Southern Atlantic and restart the formal process of negotiations within the framework of the Resolution 2065 by the UN’s General Assembly,” Cafiero said on Thursday.
The Foradori-Duncan treaty was reached under former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and former Argentine president Mauricio Macri in 2016 to “improve the bilateral relations” and “remove the obstacles that delayed the development of the Malvinas Islands.”
Editorial disclaimer
Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falklands Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald refers to the islands as the Malvinas Islands.
