⁃ Consideration of decolonization items (continues) ⁃ Joint general debate on decolonization items (continues)
🇪🇸 Spain, 🇦🇷 Argentina
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I would like to exercise my right of reply regarding the statement made by the distinguished representative of the United Kingdom. Without wanting to repeat arguments that we've already brought forth during this session, I would like to briefly touch upon two issues. First, this organization on numerous occasions has said that Gibraltar is a colony and that this negatively affects the unity and territorial integrity of Spain and that it is incompatible with Resolution 1514. That is why it is included in the list of 19 non self gov 17 non self governing territories. And that is why the GA has since 1964 encouraged that the issue of Gibraltar is solved definitively. And the way to solve that. Is for the UK and Spain to establish negotiations and comply with the goals of the Special Committee on Decolonization. And only the United Nations can decide when the process of Gibraltar's decolonization will have been completed. And therefore, Resolution 2353 specifies that Gibraltar's decolonization must be governed by the principle of territorial integrity. This is why the General Assembly condemned the referendum held in the 1960s. In short, the General Assembly has been clear by denying the existence of a supposed right to self determination of a supposed people in Gibraltar. There is no such a thing. Now If we are asked in the framework of negotiations to solve the issue of Gibraltar to bear in mind the interests of people living in the territory, both Spain and the UK, yes. And actually, I would like to recall that when Gibraltar was conquered, this conquest was immediately followed by the expulsion of the original population in Gibraltar that had to move to neighboring regions known as the Campo de Gibraltar. And then settlers progressively settled. in the area given by the Treaty of Utrecht and Article 10. Therefore, Spain rejects any attempt from the administering power and authorities of the colonized territory to alter their political situation, their political relationship, to pretend there is no that there is no kind of colonial link, at the same time that they defend a supposed right to self determination and that they defend be removed from the list of non self governing territories. There is no modern relationship. This is a colonial relationship that is dressed in new clothing. Moreover, and in the same fashion, I would also like to recall that, yes, on july fifteenth, the agreement between the UK and the European Union provisionally Began to be applied. This agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom has as a goal the creation of a shared prosperity area to benefit citizens in the region. And it is important to point out that it is established without prejudice to the respective legal positions of Spain and the United Kingdom with respect to the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the territory. In short, when it comes to the issue of Gibraltar, there is no other solution but a negotiated decolonization process that would be held between Spain and the UK under the terms established by the United Nations. And of course, it is a process for which Spain it is totally open to. I thank you.
You have five minutes. Thank you very much. In response to the allegations made by the UK on the Malvinas Islands, the Argentine delegation would like to reiterate in very strong terms the statements made by the President of the Republic in the General Assembly on the 23rd of September and the Argentina Foreign Minister when he considered this in the special committee of on declinations and of the United Nations on 25 June. Argentina recalls that the Malvinas, the South Georgia Islands and South Sandwich Islands are part of the territory of Argentina and they're illegally occupied by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. They are under a territorial dispute, and this dispute has been recognized by several international organizations. The UK's illegal occupation has led the J to adopt ten resolutions on the issue starting with 2075, which recognizes the existence of the territorial dispute and references the issue of the Malvinus Islands, and it urges the governments of the Republic of Argentina and the UK to renew negotiations in order to find as soon as possible a peaceful and lasting solution to this dispute. The Special Committee on Decolonisation has expressed itself in these terms recently through the resolution adopted on the twenty-fifth of June of this year, Madam Chair. The decision to initiate arbitration against the UK on the basis of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is a clear is clear proof of the Republic of Argentina's respect for international law and our determination to exercise our sovereign rights through peaceful means. This has as a goal to advance solving a territorial dispute that the UK is ignoring, which is the flagrant disregard of calls from the international community. We reject that the UK characterizes this recourse to arbitration in the framework of UNCLOS as an attempt to undermine the interests of people living on the Malvinas Islands. Nothing could be further from the truth. Argentina constitutionally committed to respecting their way of life. But this does not mean that Argentina has to tolerate that its sovereign rights are undermined due to unilateral positions from the UK that irreversibly impact the area under territorial dispute. The population of the Malvinas Islands do not have the right to self determination. This is a foreign population in order to perpetuate the colonial settlement of a stolen territory. Before they arrived to the Malvinas Islands, they were already Argentines living there, working and prospering under our flag. Argentinians were violently expelled from the island in 1833 by British forces, and our land was taken away from us to be subject to a colonial regime that continues to this day. This does not mean that the passage of time has legitimized that theft, nor do they now have any kind of supposed right to self-determination to this population that came to substitute the population that was expelled by force. This is why the GA has avoided references to the right to self-determination for the population of the island. The Malvinas Islands do not have a democratic system nor do they have autonomy. On the contrary, they are subject to a specific colonial regime. As the UN Special Committee on Decolonization recognizes every year. The colonial regime imposed by the UK is based on the exclusion of the Argentinian people that was expelled by force from the archipelago and still has a prohibition from returning due to this occupation. In the framework of that colonial regime, the UK administers the islands and designates a governor that has the last word on all relevant decisions. This includes granting licenses to explore and exploit hydrocarbons. The activities of the UK on the continental shelf of Argentina are not just illegal because they violate Argentinian sovereignty and enclosed they also violate resolutions from the General Assembly of the United Nations, resolution that encourages Argentina and the UK to avoid any decision that may unilaterally modify the situation while the dispute continues to exist. This solution. Came in 1936 when the UK was already exploring hydrocarbons unilaterally. To conclude, Madam Chair, the Republic of Argentina reaffirms its sovereignty over the Malvina Islands, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands, as well as surrounding maritime areas. They are an integral part of the National Argentinian territory. Malvinas belong to Argentina in history and rights. Thank you.
Verbatim from the transcript. A reply is identified from its own words, the Chair's grant, or its place in the right-of-reply sequence; delegations and addressees follow the transcript's attribution.