World News EU provokes fury as it agrees statement with Argentina that calls Falkland Islands ‘Islas Malvinas’

The EU has provoked fury in London after it signed a deal with Argentina which referred to the Falkland Islands as “Islas Malvinas”.

Buenos Aires boasted of the move as being a “diplomatic triumph” and said it hoped to expand talks with the bloc on the “question” of the archipelago.

The Foreign Office strongly opposed any reference to the islands with Argentina’s preferred name.

The issue is extraordinarily sensitive for both sides given the war fought over the Falklands in

1982.

Britain lost 255 servicemen retaking the south Atlantic territory after Argentina’s military junta invaded.

Although the UK decisively won the fight and ensured the Falklands’ status as an overseas territory, the issue has never gone away for Buenos Aires.

Securing the use of the phrase “Islas Malvinas” in an agreement with the EU will only embolden its hopes of absorbing the islands.

The wording came in a joint

Falkland’s population (3,662 inhabitants in 2021) is primarily nativeborn Falkland Islanders, the majority of British descent declaration between the EU and Celac, a bloc of 33 countries in Latin America.

It used both names to refer to the Falklands in the text, which said: “Regarding the question of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands, the European Union took note of Celac’s historical position based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful solution of disputes.”

That came despite Britain warning the EU that Argentina would try to use the EU-Latin America summit to advance their claims. Had it been a member, it could have vetoed the text.

Argentina’s president Alberto Fernandez tweeted: “We concluded the summit with great news: the European Union and Celac adopted a motion on the Malvinas Question.

“Our sovereignty claim, by peaceful means and through dialogue, remains intact.”

Foreign minister Santiago Cafiero said: “Off the back of this declaration the Argentine government hopes to further expand dialogue with the EU regarding the question of the Malvinas Islands.

“This joint declaration constitutes a further call from the international community for the UK to agree to meet its obligation to resume sovereignty negotiations with Argentina.”

The Argentinian delegation to the EU told their country’s news agency “it is the first time in a long time that the European Union talks about ‘Malvinas’... That is not little, it is a lot”.

However, the a spokesperson for the EU clarified that member states “have not changed their views and positions” on the islands and the bloc “is not in a situation to express any position on the Falklands/Islas Malvinas”.