Argentina ambassador refuses to speak in front of map showing the Falklands labelled as British – before official covers it up with Post-it note
The Argentinian ambassador refused to speak in front of a map labeling the Falkland Islands as British, forcing officials to cover it with a Post-it note.
The country’s ambassador to France, Ian Sielecki, refused to answer questions at the foreign relations committee of the French national assembly in Paris on Wednesday.
He claimed he could not ‘speak freely’ in front of a map, before comparing the British presence in the archipelago to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘Thank you very much for accepting me,’ he said, adding: ‘I have a small problem, but this is actually a big problem for my country.’
Pointing to the map behind him, he told MPs: ‘I have just realized that I am sitting in front of a map showing the Malvinas Islands as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
‘As a representative of the Argentine state, I cannot speak freely in front of that map.’
‘To do so would be to legitimize a situation that constitutes an attack on my country’s sovereignty, an attack on the dignity of the Argentine nation and a clear violation of international law.’
Committee chairman Bruno Fuchs replied that “everyone knows that this is a disputed territory” and added that the map should not confer sovereignty.
Argentina’s ambassador refused to speak in front of a map labeling the Falkland Islands as British, forcing officials to cover it with a Post-it note
The country’s ambassador to France, Ian Sielecki, refused to answer questions at the French national assembly’s foreign affairs committee in Paris.
But Mr. Sielecki, who was educated in England and France, likened the dispute to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
‘This is like asking the Ukrainian ambassador to speak in front of a map showing Luhansk or Crimea as a legitimate part of Russia,’ he said.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, French officials placed a yellow Post-it note over the Falkland Islands on the map.
Located 370 miles from Argentina, the Falkland Islands remain a tense issue in Argentine politics
Argentina invaded the island in 1982, leading to a 74-day war in which 649 Argentine soldiers and 255 British soldiers died.
Argentina still claims sovereignty over the islands, even though a referendum held in 2013 showed only three people in favor of ending their status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom.
But there are fears that Argentina could use Donald Trump’s new ‘peace board’ as a tool to stake a new claim over the Falkland Islands.
Britain is concerned that Argentinian President Javier Milei, a close supporter of Trump, could use the US leader’s control of the body to further his country’s unfounded claim in the region.
Alarm bells are starting to ring over Trump’s plans to create an organization ostensibly set up to end the war in Gaza but which critics say is designed to replace the United Nations.
Mr. Trump plans to chair that meeting and has invited as many as 60 world leaders to join him, including Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
Government ministers have publicly said the UK would refuse to join if Putin becomes a member.
