MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina once again objects to British military exercises in South Atlantic

British maneuvers are to go on until April 29, it was reported. Photo: British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI)

Argentina's Foreign Ministry Tuesday expressed its utmost rejection of British military drills in the Malvinas (Falkland) Islands, which the South American country deemed as “an unjustified show of force.”

The administration of President Alberto Fernández also underlined those maneuvers -to span until April 29- were being carried out in “illegitimately occupied” Argentine territory and that those actions by the United Kingdom constituted a “deliberate departure from the calls of the numerous resolutions of the UN and other international organizations.”

The Foreign Ministry pointed out in a statement that “The Argentine Republic rejects in the strongest terms the realization of these military maneuvers in Argentine territory illegitimately occupied.”

The official document further states that the new military exercises “constitute an unjustified show of force and a deliberate departure from the calls 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 involving both countries in the Question of the Malvinas Islands.”

The diplomatic note added that “The Argentine government has become aware that between April 18 and 29 the United Kingdom is once again carrying out military exercises in the Malvinas Islands, where British forces stationed in the Malvinas Islands, belonging to the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, among others, are taking part.”

“... the illegitimate Island Defense Force will also participate in the maneuvers, together with forces of the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force,” the document went on.

Argentina insisted these troops were “part of the illegal military deployment of the United Kingdom's illegal occupation of the Malvinas Islands.”

The Argentine Foreign Ministry once again stressed that the British military presence in the islands is “categorically opposed to the permanent will of the Argentine Republic to resolve the dispute by peaceful means, in accordance with international law and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.”

The statement also pointed out that ”the persistence of 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 entail the introduction of modifications in the situation while the Islands are undergoing the negotiation process recommended therein.“

The Argentine authorities also pointed out that ”the military presence also contradicts General Assembly resolution 41/11 (Zone of Peace and Cooperation in the South Atlantic) which, among other provisions, calls upon states of all other regions, in particular militarily significant 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 that region.“

”The Argentine Government once again reaffirms its sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas that form an integral part of the national territory of the Argentine Republic, which, being illegitimately occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, are the subject of a sovereignty dispute recognized by the United Nations through General Assembly resolution 2065 ... and subsequent resolutions as well as other international organizations and forums.“

The communiqué also stressed that ”the Argentine Government reiterates that this is a sovereignty dispute that must be resolved bilaterally between the two countries, and reaffirms its willingness to resume negotiations.”