I read with interest Argentinian Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno’s Jerusalem Post op-ed claiming Argentinian sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. The United Kingdom’s position, however, is clear: the Falkland Islands are British, and self-determination lies with the islanders.
At the heart of Argentina’s illegitimate claim over the Falkland Islands is a historical falsehood. British sovereignty over the islands dates back to 1765, some years before the Argentinian Republic even existed.
On January 3, 1833, an Argentinian military garrison that had been sent to the Falkland Islands three months earlier to impose Argentinian sovereignty was expelled by British forces. No civilian Argentinian population was expelled.
The land that now forms the Argentinian province of Tierra del Fuego, which the Argentinian Republic purportedly claims the Falkland Islands as part of, did not itself form part of the Argentinian Republic until approximately half a century after 1833. In this context, any claim that Argentina’s sovereignty preceded British sovereignty is patently false.
Secondly, the principle of self-determination is fundamental when discussing the Falkland Islands. The right of self-determination is universal as enshrined in the UN Charter and in Article 1 of the two UN Covenants on Human Rights. No amount of intellectual gymnastics can alter this fundamental fact.
The population of the Falklands has been living peacefully on the Islands for nearly 200 years. Several Falkland Islands families have now been living there for 10 generations, longer than most Argentinian families have lived in Argentina.
That means the Falkland Islands’ families were building their homes long before the boundaries of modern-day Argentina were established or long before the current boundaries of modern-day Latin American nations were settled.
The passage of time, and repeated calls for sovereignty discussions, do not alter the central fact of this issue: the Falkland Islands have already made their choice. In the Falkland Islanders’ referendum of 2013 on the future of the Islands, 99.8% of those who voted chose to maintain their current status as an Overseas Territory of the UK.
This was on a 92% turnout, and was therefore an unequivocal expression of the islanders’ wish to remain British. In this context, it is simply not credible to suggest that their wish could be anything else.
And the UK position is clear: only the people of the Falkland Islands can decide their future. Their future cannot be negotiated over their heads; it can only be considered with their full agreement and active participation.
Yet despite the clarity of Britain’s sovereignty and the right of self-determination of the islanders, in 1982, in flagrant violation of the UN Charter, Argentina launched an illegal and unprovoked military invasion in an attempt to seize the Falkland Islands by force.
The UN Security Council demanded the immediate withdrawal of all Argentinian forces from the Falkland Islands, and it was Argentina’s refusal to comply that forced Britain to retake the islands militarily. During this operation, 255 British soldiers were killed, as were three Falkland Islanders.
I know Israelis will understand the pain of this loss all too well, given the Israeli lives that have also been lost in defending Israel from military invasions.
UK-Argentina relations
None of this changes the UK’s desire to maintain a respectful and fruitful bilateral relationship with Argentina, nor our commitment to constructive engagement in the South Atlantic. We will continue to support practical cooperation where it serves shared interests, including in areas such as environmental stewardship.
But this is ultimately a question of the international system’s foundational principles. A population has exercised its democratic rights and made its position known. Respecting that choice is our obligation.
The Falkland Islands are British, and will remain so.
The writer is the British ambassador to Israel.