The Argentine government has called back to Buenos Aires two ambassadors who were instrumental in the drafting and implementation of the 2016 Foradori-Duncan communiqué which opened the way for a more constructive relationship between Argentina and the UK, in a raft of issues, including those in the South Atlantic and the disputed Falklands Islands.
The administration of Argentine president Alberto Fernandez will implement an integral policy towards the Malvinas Islands, Antarctica and the South Atlantic because it wants to emphasize the maritime projection of Argentina and the fact that it is a bi-continental territory.
By Facundo Rodriguez (*) - It's now been three years since the British and Argentine governments signed the Foradori-Duncan agreement and committed to taking “appropriate measures to remove all obstacles limiting the economic growth and sustainable development” of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.
Argentina formally complained on Friday about military exercises with missiles that Britain is planning this month in the disputed Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Argentina's foreign ministry said in a statement that it had sent a letter to the British ambassador Mark Kent demanding the country call off the illegitimate exercises, which are scheduled for Oct. 19-28 and include the launching of Rapier missiles.
The 13th September joint statement between Argentina and the UK is a new bilateral convergence of common interests and the possibility, in the framework of a new dialogue and cooperation, of sovereignty discussions resumption on the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich islands and adjoining maritime spaces question, Argentine Deputy foreign minister Carlos Foradori told the Lower House Foreign Affairs committee during a summons on Wednesday.
Foreign minister Susana Malcorra said that Argentina is “not surrendering the Malvinas Islands” and explained that Tuesday's exchange between president Mauricio Macri and Prime minister Theresa May in New York, in the framework of the UN annual assembly was “a brief casual encounter”.
The chair of Argentina's Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee Elisa Carrió has supported president Mauricio Macri's nonnegotiable stance on the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute and attributed the Argentina/UK joint statement controversy to minor questions of communication, nevertheless she summoned deputy foreign minister Carlos Foradori to Congress next Wednesday.
The Argentine/UK political convergence to promote bilateral dialogue and advance in areas of common interest for both parts “is not a closed agreement but a Joint Statement which describes principles and relates intentions”, pointed out Argentine deputy minister Carlos Foradori in an interview with Buenos Aires daily Clarin.
The president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz said in Buenos Aires that if finally a trade and cooperation agreement is reached between the European Union and Mercosur the United Kingdom will not benefit as a consequence of Brexit.
The recently appointed UK Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary and Head of the Diplomatic Service Sir Simon McDonald was received this week at the Argentine foreign ministry where he met with Deputy minister Carlos Foradori, and one of the several issues addressed was the forensic actions to help identify Argentine combatants buried at the Darwin cemetery, according to a release from Palacio San Martin.