Argentina has restated claims to sovereignty over UK Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean.
On 21st April, Argentine Vice Chancellor Victorio Taccetti submitted a document to the UN which aims to support the country’s claim to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands. Entitlement to a portion of British Antarctic Territory was also asserted.
A spokesperson for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office underlined the UK’s “close and productive relationship [with Argentina]” and said that British experts will examine the Argentine claim. However, the Foreign Office affirmed: “The UK does not accept that there is any basis for the Argentine submission to include areas of continental shelf generated by the Falkland Islands and by South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.”
The Foreign Office has said it will respond officially to the CLCS before the Argentine submission is considered at its next meeting. The UK will submit data of its own “in respect of the continental shelf of the Falkland Islands…ahead of the 13th May 2009 deadline”.
The Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) has declared 13th May 2009 to be the deadline for official claims to coastal and marine areas. According to the CLCS, these regions can be proved to form part of a country’s territory on the basis of “the natural prolongation of its land territory to the outer edge of the continental margin”. If sufficient proof is provided, a country can pronounce the continental shelf and hence their territory to extend more than the established 200 nautical miles from the coast. The Falkland Islands lie approximately 300 miles from the Argentine coast.
British sovereignty was established in the Falkland Islands in 1833 and has remained a contentious issue. Argentina made an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim them in 1982, resulting in the Falklands War.
The UK maintains that it “has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas.” The Falkland Islands Tourist Board promotes their British heritage. Stanley, the capital, boasts red phone boxes, eight pubs and a double-decker bus. But the Argentine National Constitution of 1994 also calls the islands “an integral part of the national territory”.
Vice Chancellor Taccetti is reported to have stated that this claim is important not only in terms of sovereignty but also “from an economic point of view”. Ownership and governance of regions such as the Falkland Islands implies free rein to exploit marine bed resources. Taccetti pointed out that these may include petrol and gas.
Technological advances in recent years prompted the UN to open the question of expanding established limits. Exploration and extraction of natural resources is now feasible in previously inaccessible zones.
The enormous Argentine claim document weighs over 800kg. It represents the culmination of years of investigation into the extent of the continental platform around the Argentine coastline. The research involved measuring the depth of the sea away from mainland Argentina and received financial support from the UN programme for development.
The 1959 Antarctic Treaty prevents exploitation of oil, gas and minerals for anything other than scientific research. The British Embassy in Argentina states that the UK’s position is clear with regards to claims on Antarctic territory. “The Antarctic Treaty stated that no country can claim sovereignty on any piece of the Antarctic continental shelf for twenty or thirty years,” said a spokesman. He added: “If you’ll pardon the pun, everything is frozen on that topic.”
In 2007, the UK Foreign Office announced plans to increase its own Antarctic territory. This was described as a “theoretical” claim, only to “safeguard” Britain’s interest in the “incredibly unlikely” event that the treaty is abolished.
The ongoing conflict of ownership of the islands between the Argentine and British governments, however, means that Argentina’s claims will have to be shelved by the CLCS until the dispute has been resolved. Where a disagreement exists, the Commission’s policy is to “decline to examine any submission which would prejudice delimitation [between states]”.
Argentine newspaper Página 12 reported that Taccetti was also interested in bringing the controversy in general to the attention of the international community. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner asked British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reopen negotiations when they met in Chile in March of this year. Brown refused to do so, citing “self-determination”, or the right of the inhabitants of the islands to decide for themselves.
Dear Sir/Madam
I wondering if you are publishing this news from Argentina, the country in which we are live.
In our country doesn’t exist anything called Falklands.
I suppose that your are speaking about the Islas Malvinas, invaded by the british goverment in 1833.
The Islas Malvinas are argentines.
Dear Sir/Madam,
This country is called Falkland Islands and has been for some hundreds of years since discovery, only to the great Argentine myth that is publically shouted about, is it the Malvinas invented by Senor Peron in the 1940′s, Who knows, one day it might become Malvinas but it would seem as a government you have learnt nothing from history on how to win friends and influence people.
Use your time and energy to improve your own country and turn it in to what it could and should be and leave others to its rightful owners, the people who have lived there for 177 years in peace apart from suffering invasion by their neighbours and continuing agressive diplomatic behaviour.
Mr John Smith, you make things to look so simple! Maybe you CAN make things to flow simply… I wonder why anybody haven’t called you yet to spread your word over, i.e. the “GAZA STRIP” to solve all of their problems with your infinite wisdom?