Falklands: Argentina will make formal complaint to UN (VIDEO)
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner delivers a speech in front of a backdrop displaying the Falkland Islands (Malvinas in Spanish) painted like the Argentine national flag at the Government Palace in Buenos Aires on February 7, 2012. Fernandez de Kirchner announced that her government will present a protest to the United Nations due to the “militarization” of the South Atlantic by Great Britain, after the British Royal Navy announced it would be sending the destroyer HMS Dauntless near the disputed islands. AFP PHOTO / Juan Mabromata
Argentina will make a formal complaint to the United Nations concerning British military movement near the Falkland Islands, reported the BBC.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner raised the issue while speaking to members of parliament and senior officials, and said she will make a formal complaint to the UN Security Council about the deployment of the British warship HMS Dauntless near the Falkland Islands in the coming months, according to CNN.
"I have instructed our chancellor to formally present before the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly this militarization of the South Atlantic, which implies a great risk for international safety," said Fernandez, according to CNN.
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The British have controlled the Falklands, also known as the Malvinas, since 1833, and fought with Argentina in 1982 over the islands. The 30th anniversary of the Falklands War is two months away, and oil exploration around the islands has also raised the stakes over their sovereignty, said Reuters.
Addressing Prince William’s six week posting as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue pilot on the Falklands, Fernandez said, “We would have liked to see him dressed as a civilian, not with a military uniform.”
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Here is a CNN report with some indication of the local reaction on the Falkland islands.