During the 27th Ibero-American Summit, the countries of the forum issued a Special Statement on the Question of the Malvinas Islands, reiterating their call for the resumption of negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in order to find a prompt solution to the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas, South Georgias, and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.
They also stated that such negotiations must be conducted in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations and the Organization of American States and the provisions and goals of the United Nations Charter, including the principle of territorial integrity.
The Heads of State, gathered at the Ibero-American Summit, also supported the Argentine government in rejecting the United Kingdom’s unilateral actions of exploration and exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources and condemning the increased military presence in the area. The Ibero-American Summit thus reaffirmed its support for the Argentine position and added its support for the protection of the resources exploited by the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic.
With regard to United Kingdom’s unilateral actions of exploration and exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources in the Malvinas Islands, they recalled “the international community’s calls to refrain from adopting decisions that would introduce unilateral modifications in the situation of the Malvinas Islands, as set forth in United Nations Resolution 31/49.”
They also stated that the increased military presence in the disputed area is “incompatible with the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the territorial dispute between the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom.”
Furthermore, they highlighted the successive United Nations resolutions that urge the Secretary General to make good offices efforts for the resumption of bilateral negotiations, in order to find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute as soon as possible, and “the permanent constructive position of the Argentine government to reach, through negotiations, a definitive solution to this particular and special colonial situation, as it is defined by the United Nations.”
During the Summit, President Alberto Fernández and Foreign Minister Felipe Solá thanked for the support of the Ibero-American countries for the Question of the Malvinas and reiterated Argentina’s commitment to dialogue in order to resume, as soon as possible, sovereignty negotiations with the United Kingdom.
