MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The Falklands/Malvinas 'pending issue' will be addressed by Malcorra in London beginning with confidence building

“The 'pending issue' will surely be part of the discussions we are going to hold in London, but I'm not forecasting anything spectacular”, said Malcorra. (Pic TELAM)

Argentine foreign minister Susana Malcorra said she plans to meet with British officials to address a multiple agenda and a “pending issue”, in the framework of a transparency meeting scheduled to take place in London.

 “We're planning to hold a bilateral meeting in London. It will be the opening of a multiple issue agenda mainly trade and investments, but we also have an issue that distances us, and that is the 'Malvinas question'”, pointed out Malcorra during this week´s hearing before the Senate foreign affairs committee.

“Most surely the issue will be part of the discussions we are going to hold, but I'm not forecasting anything spectacular. We're finally advancing after years of a total freeze; we'll see what can be done, how to advance, there are many issues that can help to build confidence mechanisms which have been totally lost”, Malcorra told the Senators according to the minutes.

The foreign minister also emphasized to the Senate committee that the president Macri administration is intent in “a de-ideologized foreign policy” since “global inclusion links must be conducted according to other guidelines, such as those of the country's interests”.

Malcorra also insisted that ”Mercosur definitively needs some kind of vehicle that links us with the Alliance of the Pacific (Chile, Peru, Colombia and Mexico)“, and again pointed out that ”Argentina is open to talk to everybody“

The Argentine foreign minister in a release reported that on Wednesday she was leaving on a long tour that would take her to Europe, Asia, Middle East and Latin America.

The travel agenda includes OAS and UN meetings in Washington and New York, later to London to the Anti-corruption summit, where bilateral discussions with UK officials are scheduled. Next stop Lebanon, to meet Argentine white helmets who will be giving support to Syrian refugees. From the Middle East to Beijing for 'very significant' bilateral talks and on the return leg, stops at Qatar and Turkey, and finally Mexico, before reaching Argentina.

In Washington, Argentina currently holds the rotating chair of the OAS Security council which must address the highly explosive case of Venezuela, and ”we think it is prudent to listen to all sides, to help find a way out to the situation, which has such an impact on Venezuelans everyday life”.