UK PM Cameron refuses Falklands letter from Argentine president
Argentinian demonstrators burn a British Union Jack flag in a protest near the British Embassy in Buenos Aires on April 2, 2012 as Britain and Argentina marked 30 years since an Argentine invasion of the Falklands Islands triggered a bloody 74-day war, amid renewed tensions between the two countries.
London, UK – British Prime Minister David Cameron has refused to accept a letter from Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at the G20 summit in Mexico concerning her country’s claim to the Falkland Islands.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the pair are believed to have come across each other unexpectedly in a corridor on the margins of the summit and exchanged words, with Cameron telling Kirchner she should “respect the views” of Falkland islanders who are holding a referendum over control of the territory.
Kirchner then tried to hand Cameron an envelope – which reportedly contained around 40 resolutions passed by the United Nations on the islands – but he refused to accept it, according to ITV News.
The altercation came after Cameron, addressing a business audience at the Mexican beach resort of Los Cabos, levelled a thinly-veiled attack against protectionist measures imposed by Argentina, which has made the movement of financial assets tougher and nationalized oil firm YPF, in which Spanish company Repsol had a majority share, Sky News reported.
According to the BBC, there are to be no formal bilateral discussions during the G20 summit between the UK and Argentina. Last Thursday, in an address to the UN, Kirchner used the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War to question Britain’s sovereignty over the islands, which Buenos Aires knows as the Malvinas. Cameron has insisted there will be “no negotiation” on the issue.
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