MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Macri insists in Brussels: “Brexit or not, our Malvinas claim will never change”
“Brexit or not, our claim will never change,” Macri told reporters in Brussels after talks with European Union leaders. 
Speaking about the Falklands, Macri added: ”That is something long-lasting and we hope one day that we can discuss (the issue with Britain)”. Argentine president Mauricio Macri said on Monday that his country's claim to the Falkland Islands remained unchanged following Britain's vote to leave the EU. “Brexit or not, our claim will never change,” Macri told reporters in Brussels after talks with European Union leaders.
Britain's vote to leave the EU in a referendum on Jun 23 has cast uncertainty on the country's global position, including whether European states would continue to back Britain's overseas territories such as the Falklands and Gibraltar.
Spain said after the vote that it was closer to asserting control over Gibraltar, the rocky outcrop on its southern tip, following the Brexit vote, prompting London to jump to the defense of its overseas territory.
Speaking about the Falklands, Macri added: ”That is something long-lasting and we hope one day that we can discuss (the issue with Britain). It doesn't mean that we cannot meanwhile have other cooperation with Britain.
”It is something I have already discussed with (Prime Minister David Cameron), I hope that with the next English prime minister we can find the space to start this dialogue. It will take years but it is important to start.”
Britain and Argentina fought a short but bloody war over the Falklands in the South Atlantic in 1982 after Argentine troops invaded and then prime minister Margaret Thatcher sent a naval task force.
The conflict claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three islanders. In 2013, almost 100% of the Falkland Islands' residents voted in favor of remaining under British rule.
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Read all comments“our claim will never change”
Jul 05th, 2016 - 07:16 am 0Agreed. That's why it will always remain a claim and nothing more.
Britain's resolve will NOT change despite a new Prime Minister, no-one would dare go against the will of the British population.
Jul 05th, 2016 - 08:53 am 0Perhaps if Macri gets a second term he might do the unthinkable and give up the mythical Malvinas rouse?
Jul 05th, 2016 - 09:15 am 0This is what he said in '97
The ambassador in London recalled that back in 1997, Macri was interviewed on the issue and his reply surprised everybody. He minimized the claim and stated, “I never quite understood the sovereignty claims of such as big country as ours. We don't have a space problem such as Israel, for example”.
But apparently he did not stop there: in effect as a pro-business man and faithful to orthodox economics, the heir of an industrial and real estate conglomerate added, “as far as I know it costs quite a bit to the English Treasury to keep the Malvinas Islands” so if they are recovered for Argentina, “Malvinas will become an additional deficit for the country's accounts”.
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