MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bielsa calls on Britain for Falklands negotiations

Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Rafael Bielsa addressing the United Nations General Assembly called on Britain to resume Falkland Islands sovereignty negotiations, as has been established by “a succession of UN resolutions”.

"The recovery of the full rule of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich and the adjoining maritime spaces is part of (Argentina's) national interests which are in the identity basis of my country as a democratic nation", said Minister Bielsa.

Earlier in the week at the start of the UN General Assembly during the Millennium goals assessment meeting, President Kirchner also dedicated several paragraphs of his speech to the Falklands/Malvinas issue, demanding the resumption of bilateral negotiations with Britain.

The resolutions of this forum as well as those from the Decolonization Committee have clearly established that the "Islas Malvinas question" constitutes a special colonial situation which must be resolved through bilateral negotiations between my country and the United Kingdom recalled Mr. Bielsa.

He further underlined that the issue has constitutional rank for Argentina and Buenos Aires has "reiterated its willingness to resume sovereignty negotiations as happened in 1966 and 1982".

However Britain persists with "its negative rejection attitude".

That is why I hereby, in United Nations, exhort the United Kingdom to take into account the successive calls from this forum to retake negotiations, thus responding to the reiterated call from the international community.