An Argentine Falklands veteran has reignited the row over the naming of the islands “Las Malvinas” by the EU in a declaration by insisting the controversial move “wasn’t far enough”.
A declaration from an EU-Latin America summit last week referred to the South Atlantic archipelago as ”the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands.” That was hailed as a diplomatic triumph by Argentina, which has long claimed the islands.
It was seen by some in the UK as a snub to Britain, which left the EU in 2020 and was not at the summit to make its case.
Asked for his thoughts on the declaration, Argentine veteran César Trejo expressed disappointment with the “inefficiency” of Argentine diplomacy concerning the “Malvinas” issue.
He argued the declaration falls far short of recognizing Argentina’s sovereignty, especially when considering that the EU clarified its position remained unchanged following the UK’s complaint.
Mr Trejo told the Argentine online newspaper La Mañana: “It is a rhetorical advance, and in the world of politics, rhetoric often occupies a limited and insufficient space.
“Our political leaders are not talking about the issue, they are not talking about it in this election campaign in which we are already immersed and, knowing the situation, we understand that none of the parties or coalitions address the issue of the Malvinas Islands or economic sovereignty.
“So, as long as the political leadership does not have a real commitment to defend Argentine interests, and the British do have a leadership that defends their colonial interests, we are in a situation of total asymmetry.
“And confusing and ambiguous little statements are not elements that we can take seriously enough to say that we are moving in the direction of recovering the Malvinas.
Rishi Sunak criticised the EU for the “regrettable choice of words” over the Falkland Islands, after the EU retracted its use of the name in the EU-CELAC summit declaration, which took place July 17-18.
His official spokesman told reporters: “The Prime Minister’s view is that it would have been entirely unacceptable for the EU to question the Falkland Islanders’ right to decide their own future.
“To be clear, the Falkland Islands are British, that was the choice of the islanders themselves.
“The EU has rightly now clarified that their position on the Falklands has not changed after their regrettable choice of words.”
