Residents of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), which new Argentine President Javier Miley promised to return to Argentina during the election campaign, insist that they will remain part of the UK, the Daily Mail reported.
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The islanders reportedly said they wanted to “live in freedom and with a government of their own choosing.” The chairman of the legislative assembly of the islands, Mark Pollard, also emphasized that the islands belong to Great Britain, their sovereignty “is not discussed,” the publication says.
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“Falkland Islanders today insisted they will remain ‘part of the British family’,” the newspaper said.
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As the Express previously reported, Miley during the election campaign promised to consider various options for returning the Falkland Islands through diplomatic means. He considers one of the ways to be the implementation of a solution similar to the transfer of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the article says.
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There is a long-standing dispute between the Argentine and British governments regarding sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Malvinas). In 1982, a war broke out between the two countries, which lasted several weeks and ended with the defeat of Buenos Aires.
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In 2013, a referendum was held on the islands, as a result of which an overwhelming number of local residents voted in favor of maintaining the status of a British overseas territory. The Argentine government then stated that the result of the referendum would not affect Argentina’s territorial claims to these islands.