MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands elected government rejects point blank Argentina's threatening and bullying tactics

Gilbert House, seat of the democratically elected government of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands elected Government on Monday publicly expressed its disappointment with the Argentine government regarding its determined intent to escalate their sovereignty claim over the Islands and continue harassing the people of the Falklands. In response to that attitude Gilbert House, seat of the government elected by the people of the Falklands, in democratic elections, has made the following release:

“As countries around the world continue to battle with the devastating and multiple impacts of COVID-19, it is absolutely right that every global government firmly turns their focus towards protecting their people and bringing the virus under control. It is therefore disappointing to read of the Government of Argentina's plans to use this particular point in time to announce their intent to escalate their claim over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, with a new 'road map' focused on three objectives, all of which aim to coerce, threaten and apply legal pressure to those who continue work together with our nation and who respect our right to self-determination.

 In June 2020, our elected representatives had intended to travel to the United Nations C24 Committee, to once again make our case to remain a self-governing and freely democratic society, however the pandemic necessarily meant that these physical meetings were cancelled. We participate in this important platform both to champion our fundamental human right to self-determination, as ratified by the Charter of the United Nations, as well as to rebut any erroneous claims about our sovereignty, which come from a place of colonial ambition and which the C24 actively seeks to address.

 MLA Barry Elsby, Deputy Leader of the Legislative Assembly, said: ”We are a country which continues to build friendships with those who know how truly special our nation is and who appreciate that the right of our community to choose their own future is an undeniable and irrefutable truth. We continue to make our case on the international stage because there are so many falsehoods perpetuated by those who base their opinion on rhetoric and debunked assertions, without any reference to the people who have made the Falkland Islands what it is over many centuries. Despite not having the opportunity to contribute to C24 this year, our convictions stand firm, and in light of the recent assertions made by Argentina, we choose not to engage with these directly at a time when we believe that all efforts should be focused on saving lives and not on scoring political points. We continue to express our solidarity to countries who are experiencing the devastation of COVID-19 and have already sought to contribute to recovery efforts in Chile and Uruguay.”