MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mujica says presence of Prince William in Malvinas is not a ‘nice’ gesture

Uruguay’s president underlines support for Argentina’s claim

Uruguayan president Jose Mujica said that the presence of Prince William, heir to the British Crown, in the Malvinas Islands is a gesture “not at all nice” and called for the dispute with Argentina not to become military because it’s no good for anybody, least for the region.

“From our point of view this gesture is not at all nice”, said Mujica to the Montevideo media on Wednesday when asked about Prince William who has been in the Falklands since the beginning of the month.

Prince William belongs to the RAF Search and Rescue service and as helicopter co-pilot has been stationed in the Falklands as part of the routine rotation of the crews.

Mujica said that Uruguay supports the Argentine sovereignty claim over the disputed Malvinas Islands but emphasized that the only possible path to reach a solution to the controversy are “negotiations”

“Uruguay historically, in this case, has backed Argentina but it is most clear that the only path possible is negotiations and in any case discussions at international level, and that is the path that must be followed”, he underlined.

“I trust that this controversy between two countries does not lead to a military scenario nor anything like it because it’s no good for anybody, much less for the region”.

Last December Uruguay sponsored an initiative at the Mercosur summit to bar all Falklands’ flagged vessels from regional ports, a ‘solidarity’ measure in compliance with a previous Unasur decision approved at the end of 2010.