MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina strongly opposes UK's firing of missiles in the Falklands

The British government warned Rapier missiles would be launched during military drills as evey year (BFSAI)

Argentina Friday expressed its government's utmost rejection of the announcement by British authorities that missiles were to be launched at the Falkland Islands. The Foreign Ministry warned that the “alleged defensive condition of the British military base in the South Atlantic is not only totally unjustified, but also represents a threat to the entire region.”

“The Argentine Republic rejects in the strongest terms the carrying out of military maneuvers and the launching of missiles in particular, in Argentine territory illegitimately occupied by the United Kingdom,“ the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

These military exercises ”constitute an unjustified show of force and a deliberate departure from the appeals of the numerous resolutions of the United Nations and other international organizations, which urge both Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations in order to find a peaceful and definitive solution to the sovereignty dispute that involves both countries in the question of the Malvinas Islands,“ the declaration went on.

”The British Foreign Office informed our Embassy in the United Kingdom that the British Government will carry out illegitimate military exercises in the area of the Malvinas Islands, in the coming days, which will include the launch of Rapier missiles. Immediately after upon receiving the communication, the Argentine Government sent the British Government a strong protest note,” the Argentine declaration adds.

The Argentine Government pointed out that the ”persistence by the United Kingdom in carrying out military exercises in the South Atlantic specifically contravenes resolution 31/49 of the United Nations General Assembly, which urges both parties (Argentina and the United Kingdom) to refrain from adopting unilateral decisions that imply the introduction of changes to the situation while the Islands are going through the negotiation process recommended thereby.“

Moreover, ”the military presence, and the launching of missiles, also contradicts resolution 41/11 of the General Assembly (Zone of Peace and Cooperation in the South Atlantic) which, among other provisions, calls upon the States of all other regions, especially the militarily important States, to scrupulously respect the South Atlantic region as a zone of peace and cooperation, in particular through the reduction and eventual elimination of their military presence in said region,” the Argentine document went on.

The Palacio San Martín (Foreign Ministry) also underscored that ”within the framework of the obligations and responsibilities of our country in matters of safety of navigation in the Southwest Atlantic, once the precise information on the date of said launch is available, the Naval Hydrography Service will issue a nautical warning informing about the development of the exercise.”

The Argentine government also announced it would seek to draw the attention of the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization.