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LONDON.- Keir Starmerleader of the Labor Party of Great Britain, He said this Wednesday that both the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar will remain Britishafter the Labor government decided last week to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Starmer said in the British Parliament that the Falklands and Gibraltar “are British and will remain British,” according to the BBC. Furthermore, he expressed that this issue is “personal” for him, since his uncle almost lost his life when his ship was “torpedoed” during the Malvinas war against Argentina in 1982.
In the past, Starmer revealed that his uncle served on HMS Antelope during the conflict that broke out during the governments of Leopoldo Galtieri and Margaret Thatcher.
In the session, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Ed Daveyhe asked Starmer. whether the trade agreement with the European Union could be renegotiated, so that Falklands fishermen could sell their catch in Europe without having to face high tariffs. In response, Starmer asserted that British sovereignty over the Falklands and Gibraltar would not be in question.
This trade agreement, established after Brexit, regulates trade between the United Kingdom and the European Union, including tariffs and quotas for specific products such as fish.
The prime minister responded: “Of course, we will do everything we can to make it easier for all businesses to trade so we can grow our economy.” But he added: “I have been very clear about the Falklands, it is something personal for me.”
According to Starmer, his uncle’s frigate She was hit by two bombs dropped from Argentine fighter planes and sank in the South Atlantic. Although his family member managed to survive, two British soldiers died.
In June, he recalled “the terrible wait when his ship was bombed.” “My mother’s fear as she sat by the radio every day, listening to the news, and then the relief, a long week later, when we found out she had survived,” he said.
The Malvinas war, which lasted ten weeks, began when the Argentine soldier, Leopoldo Galtieriordered his forces to occupy the islands. In response, Margaret Thatcher’s government deployed a naval force to recover them. Argentine forces they gave upbut Argentina still claims sovereignty over the Falklands, which are located about 480 kilometers east of the southern tip of the mainland Argentine coast.
On Tuesday, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammyfaced protests in Parliament when he said that “the situation of the Malvinas Islands and Gibraltar is not negotiable” and that the country’s commitment to the Falklands is “unbreakable” beyond the agreement on Chagos.
The Chagos deal, announced last week, It means Britain will return administration of the archipelago to Mauritius by 2025. However, it will maintain the military base on Diego García, which is the largest of the islands and where a joint facility operates with the United States. In exchange, The agreement guarantees that the military presence will continue, ensuring a strategic enclave in the Indian Ocean.
The measure unleashed strong criticism on the part of the conservatives, but also generated support from other sectors. A British newspaper columnist The GuardianSimon Jenkins, questioned British control over the Falkland Islands, following the news.
Jenkins argued in a column titled “Britain must abandon its delusions of empire: giving up the Chagos Islands is a good start” that this step should be extended to other “problematic” overseas territories such as Gibraltar and the Falklands, in a call to review Great Britain’s position on these territories.
The British government wants the treaty to be signed and ratified in 2025, describing it as a “historic moment” that “saved” the joint military base between Great Britain and the United States in Diego García, the largest of the Chagos Islands.
For his part, the shadow foreign secretary, Andrew Mitchell – who represents the opposition and is responsible for overseeing the government’s foreign policies – said that neither Lord Cameron nor James Cleverly, Lammy’s Conservative predecessors, they would have accepted the agreement, despite 11 rounds of negotiations with the Foreign Office since 2022.
Mitchell called on the government to assure the inhabitants of Gibraltar and the Falklands that this “wrong decision” will not affect their sovereignty. In response to the Chagos agreement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Diana Mondinopromised “concrete actions” so that sovereignty over the Malvinas was handed over to Buenos Aires.
Agencies AFP and with information from the BBC
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