MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands, first leg of Lord Cameron's visit to South Atlantic, South America and New York, FCDO release

“The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family, and we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family

Foreign Secretary David Cameron is visiting the Falkland Islands during the first leg of his first visit to the South Atlantic, South America, and New York, reports a release form the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.  

David Cameron will meet leaders of the Falkland Islands Government and see the range of communities that form part of the British family when he visits Stanley and other sites around this Overseas Territory.  

In the 2013 referendum, Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to retain their status as a self-governing UK Overseas Territory.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said: “The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family, and we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family, the issue of sovereignty will not be up for discussion.

”The Falkland Islanders should be proud of the modern, prosperous community they have built. The Islands are a thriving economy, where as well as farming and fishing, there is a priority given to conservation and sustainability.”

The Foreign Secretary will pay his respects to all those British personnel who served and those who lost their lives during the conflict in 1982 and thank the UK military personnel serving on the Islands today.

He will see the Islanders’ work to protect their natural environment and see some of the million penguins that live across the Islands.

Lord Cameron will then travel on to Paraguay, where he will be the first UK Foreign Secretary to ever visit the country. Paraguay is a full member of Mercosur, the South American trade group which also includes Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The three countries have Beijing China as their main trade partner, but Paraguay is one of the very few countries in the world that continues to have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan and ignores Beijing.

After that, he is due to go on to the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brazil where he will discuss G20 agendas on tackling hunger and climate change and work with partners to advance efforts towards peace in the Middle East and support for Ukraine.   

And lastly, he will head to New York for the UN ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine.