PRESS RELEASE

On 3 January 1833, British forces occupied the Malvinas Islands, expelling the inhabitants and the legitimately established Argentine authorities. The act of force of 1833 was immediately protested and was never tolerated by the Argentine Republic,

Today, 175 years after the illegitimate occupation, which continues to this day, the Argentine people and Government reaffirm once again the imprescriptible rights of sovereignty of the Argentine Republic over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, which are an integral part of the Argentine national territory.

Likewise, they recall the permanent and unrenounceable objective, enshrined in the National Constitution, to recover the full exercise of sovereignty over these territories and maritime areas, in accordance with the principles of international law and with respect for the lifestyle and interests of the inhabitants of the Malvinas Islands. This permanent objective is a State policy and responds to a collective desire of the Argentine Nation’s people.

The Argentine Government reiterates the necessity to comply with the multiple resolutions of the United Nations and the declarations of the Organization of American States, among other several for a, which request the governments of the Argentine Republic and of the united Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to resume the bilateral negotiations in order to find, as soon as possible, a just, peaceful and lasting solution to the sovereignty dispute.

In the understanding that cooperation on practical aspects would contribute to creating the appropriate atmosphere for the resumption of the negotiations aiming at solving the dispute, Argentina agreed with the United Kingdom bilateral understandings of a practical nature under the sovereignty formula. Nevertheless, the reluctance of the United Kingdom to address the question of sovereignty continues and British unilateral acts have multiplied, which not only do not contribute to the bilateral cooperation but also contradict the call by the United Nations to refrain from adopting unilateral measures.

These unilateral acts led the Argentine Government to put and end, in March 2007, to the Joint Statement on hydrocarbons, and to the fact that the South Atlantic Fisheries Commission has not net again since December 2005. Argentina and the United Kingdom should jointly analyze all the bilateral understandings in the light of their purpose that is to contribute to creating the appropriate atmosphere for the resumption of the negotiations on sovereignty. As long as the United Kingdom remains reluctant to do that, Argentina will continue to be compelled to make this analysis without the participation of its counterpart.

The Argentine Republic considers unjustified the British negative to address the core question in order to put an end to this anachronistic sovereignty dispute of which the international community, including the United Kingdom itself, repeatedly and expressly recognizes its existence, nature and the fact that it is still in force pending of a solution. With a view to complying with the numerous pronouncements by the international community urging both parties to put an end to the sovereignty dispute, the Argentine Republic reiterates, once again, its permanent willingness to resume the bilateral negotiations to reach a solution to the sovereignty dispute.

Buenos Aires, January 3rd 2008