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| Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez (C) speaks as Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (L) and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy listen at a press conference during the European Union-Latin America and the Caribbean summit in Madrid, capital of Spain, May 18, 2010. (Xinhua/Chen Haitong) |
BUENOS AIRES, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Tuesday urged Britain to resume the dialogue on the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.
"Please let us restore the negotiations," Fernandez said at the opening of the Latin America and Caribbean-European Union Summit in Madrid, Spain.
Fernandez said the United Nations resolutions call on both sides to negotiate the sovereignty of the archipelago, but they "continue without being fulfilled."
"It cannot be charged to our account for what happened during the military dictatorships," Fernandez said. She was referring to 1982, when Argentina, ruled by a de facto government, lost the Malvinas Islands.
Fernandez called Argentina "a country of peace. It cannot be charged to our account. What happened in the military dictatorships does not have anything to do with the idiosyncracy of the country," she said.
Meanwhile, Britain's Secretary of State for Latin America, Jeremy Browne, reaffirmed Britain's sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and said there won't be negotiations with Argentina unless its inhabitants are willing.
The issue of the Malvinas is one of "self-determination, and their inhabitants should decide it," Browne said.
"Although we do not agree with Argentina on the Malvinas issue, both countries have close and productive ties in other aspects, such as economy, the G-20, climate change and sustained development," Browne said.
In February the two countries reached a diplomatic impasse after Britain authorized hydrocarbon exploration north of the Malvinas, which led Argentina to file complaints at international forums.
Argentina and Britain started a war on April 2, 1982, for the Malvinas Islands. The war ended on June 14, 1982, with Argentina's surrender.
