UK's news agency Press Association has interviewed the current chair of the Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly, MLA Teslyn Barkman on the 40th anniversary of the Falklands' war and the ninth, on the self-determination referendum from March 2013.
Argentina's main leader and vice-president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner recalled on Sunday in Twitter that her government strongly supported Ukraine back in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea, but also complained about the double standard of the great powers in their stance regarding the Falkland/Malvinas Islands issue.
On Tuesday the Falklands government in an official release reiterated the need for human rights and democratic liberties of the Falklands' nation to be respected, particularly self-determination.
By Dov S. Zakheim (*)This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory, on April 2, 1982.
Next Thursday, 24 September, Falklanders will be going to the polls to vote on a referendum on a Single electoral Constituency for the whole archipelago. Currently, there are two constituencies in the Falklands, Stanley the capital, which elects five of the eight members of the Legislative Assembly, and the so-called Camp, which represents the rest of the territory and sends three representatives.
The Falkland Islands Government on Friday moved to the next stage of its response to the global COVID-19 situation. While there are still no confirmed cases on the Islands, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Rebecca Edwards, says it is now likely COVID-19 is present here.
The Falkland Islands Government announced on Thursday that a referendum will be held on Thursday, 26 March 2020. On that date, the electorate will be asked to vote on whether there should be two constituencies, Stanley and Camp, or if there should be one constituency for the whole of the Falkland Islands.
The wording of the question for a referendum on whether the Falkland Islands should have a single constituency has been announced. The question will be as follows: ‘Should there be two constituencies, Stanley and Camp, or should there be one constituency for the whole of the Falkland Islands?
”We would be delighted to have a normal, friendly relationship with all our neighbors, to freely trade with, work with and discuss things of mutual benefit” said Falkland Islands lawmaker MLA Roger Edwards at the UN Decolonization 2018 Pacific Regional Seminar held in Grenada last week. But, he added, “instead, we are not recognized or accepted as a people in our own right”, by Argentina.
Argentine Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies of Geneva, Marcelo Kohen, has studied disputes and resolutions in different parts of the world. Last Monday Kohen was in the Falkland Islands and at a public meeting in Stanley, he presented a proposal to put “an end to the dispute”.