MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Reality is reality” and the Falkland Islands are British

Argentina reacts to the Lisbon European Treaty

“Reality is reality” and the “Falklands are British” was the first UK reaction to a protest letter from the Argentine government rejecting the inclusion of disputed (British) Overseas Territories in the Lisbon European Treaty which was signed by EU leaders this Thursday in the Portuguese capital.

The protest letter presented to the British Embassy in Buenos Aires refers to Argentina's sovereignty claims over the disputed Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and a sector of Antarctic territory. The European Treaty signed in Lisbon amends the Treaty of the European Union (Maastricht) and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (Rome) and is an elegant way of circumventing the ill fated European Constitution. But one of its chapters includes the association of Overseas Countries and Territories, which Argentina rejects because of the pending claims. A spokesperson from the British embassy in Buenos Aires confirmed that ambassador Dr. John Hughes had received the protest letter and would be sending its content to London. However Ambassador Hughes was quoted by the spokesperson saying that the European treaty signed today in Lisbon "reflects that reality is reality" and that "the Falkland Islands are British". Dr. Hughes also expressed his surprise to the display and publicity given to the bilateral meeting between the special UK representative (MP Bob Blizzard) to the inauguration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the Deputy Foreign Affairs minister, Roberto García Moritán on Wednesday. "Normally these informal exchanges of opinions are not made public", was quoted Dr. Hughes by the Embassy spokesperson. The Foreign Affairs Ministry release states that given Argentina's permanent policy of reasserting legitimate sovereign rights over the Malvinas, Georgias del Sur and Sandwich del Sur islands and adjoining maritime spaces, a permanent and unbinding objective of the Argentine people consecrated in the Constitution "today December 13, 2007, the Argentine government rejected before the institutions and member states of the European Union the pretension of including parts of national Argentine territory in the list of countries and territories to which will apply the "Countries and Overseas Territories Association" regime of the Lisbon Treaty, which modifies the European Union Treaty and the European Community Constitutive Treaty".