Today, the presidents of MERCOSUR Member and Associate States expressed their full support for Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands, during the 55th Summit of Heads of State, held via video conference.
The leaders of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (Member States) alongside the leaders of Bolivia, Chile and Colombia (Associate States) referred to the matter in a Joint Communiqué adopted during the meeting held in Asunción.
In the statement, the Heads of State “reaffirmed the terms of the Declaration of the Presidents of the MERCOSUR Member States, the Republic of Bolivia and the Republic of Chile, signed on 25 June 1996 in Potrero de los Funes, Argentine Republic, known as the Declaration on the Malvinas Islands, and reiterated their support for the legitimate rights of the Argentine Republic in the sovereignty dispute concerning the Question of the Malvinas Islands.”
Furthermore, they remarked that “the adoption of unilateral measures is not consistent with the decisions made by the United Nations”, and recalled “the regional interest in finding a solution to the protracted sovereignty dispute between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland over the Malvinas, South Georgias and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas as soon as possible and in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the declarations of the Organization of American States, MERCOSUR, and other regional and multilateral fora.”
“I thank you all for the position you have taken concerning the Malvinas Islands. This is an imprescriptible constitutional mandate and the negotiation is an essential duty for Argentina. We are appreciative of the solidarity MERCOSUR has shown on this issue,” Foreign Minister Felipe Solá stated.
The Secretary for the Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic of the Foreign Ministry, Daniel Filmus, underscored that “the bloc has historically maintained this position on the Question of the Malvinas Islands and especially values the fact that our sister nations in the region reiterate their call on the UK for it to negotiate on the terms contained in UN resolutions”.
