MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

London ambassador proposes sharing Malvinas resources

Ambassador Mirre leaves London with a royal picture

”The only way (for Argentina) to take advantage of the Malvinas resources is to share them, but to share them you must have an agreement (with the UK) and for that you need political will which at this moment does not exist”, said Argentine ambassador in London, Federico Mirré who is retiring after forty years in the diplomatic service.

Interviewed this week by the Buenos Aires Clarín daily correspondent in London, Mirré said that the non advancement in negotiations with the UK for an agreement on the Falklands/Malvinas Islands can be tracked to "the growing economic and strategic importance of the area". Nevertheless he underlined, --personally--, the urgency of an agreement on three areas "fisheries, hydrocarbons and Antarctica", areas "where we should make a clear effort of understanding and cooperation" with the UK. Ambassador Mirré added that if no agreement is reached on hydrocarbons now, "in fifty years time it would be entirely useless" and underlined that fisheries has become a growingly scarce commodity. "And what about sharing resources with the Islanders?" To share you need an agreement but according to Mirré the UK non willingness to agree can be traced to the fact "the British currently feel emotionally constrained because of the diminished areas where they once were present in the world and the rediscovery of the territorial" factor. Retiring ambassador Mirré described the Malvinas issue as "a paradox" for bilateral relations since on the one hand it gives Argentina an edge position to talk with the UK, but at the same time "subtracts strength to other bilateral relations possibilities". However in spite of the paradox there are areas where Argentina needs to keep working particularly on the significant Latinamerican priority reduction displayed by the Foreign Office and which is worsening. Mirré said that in an ever more complex world and of growing priorities, Great Britain must focus, and "whatever is out of the focus, receives less attention". The Argentine head of mission will be ending his professional career at the very place he started as a junior diplomat, London. "How has your diplomatic experience with the British been?" In the first stage Argentina and Britain worked on the hypothesis of a Falkland/Malvinas negotiation, including sovereignty. Now, UK is no longer negotiating sovereignty and there's no British participation in Argentine conflicts of interest with third countries or regionally. "What has changed is the intensity of British presence with international power in the Argentine domestic arena". But in spite of the different scenarios Ambassador Mirré admits that the Labor government had two important political gestures towards Argentina during his period. One of them was the invitation by PM Tony Blair to then president Nestor Kirchner in July 2003 to participate in a summit of progressive leaders in London when the two had "an intense and interesting" long private meeting. The second was an invitation from PM Gordon Brown to President Cristina Kirchner for a similar meeting last month in London, but never materialized because of the problems faced by her administration. But "I can tell you there was a genuine willingness from the Brown government to address in depth the whole bilateral agenda with the Argentine president, besides the issues of the summit". Ambassador Mirré said that once he leaves London he will share time between a small ranch in the east of Uruguay, next to a lagoon and his new hobby of documentaries for television. Among the good memories he will be taking from UK is a picture personally dedicated to him and his wife Cecilia by the Queen and Prince Philip.