UK’s David Cameron to visit Falklands, says islands’ sovereignty ‘not up for discussion’
- Argentina has asked the UK for talks on the disputed islands based on an approach similar to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997
- Both countries fought a war in 1982 over the islands, which killed 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will visit the Falkland Islands in a high-profile demonstration they are a “valued part of the British family” amid renewed Argentinian calls for talks on the future of the islands they call Islas Malvinas.
Cameron’s visit will be the first by a British Cabinet minister since 2016 and he stressed that the issue of the archipelago’s sovereignty is “not … up for discussion” while the islanders wish to be British.
After their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Foreign Office said the pair had a “warm and cordial meeting” and on the issue of the Falklands “they would agree to disagree, and do so politely.”
Ahead of his trip to the South Atlantic, Cameron said: “The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family, and we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family, the issue of sovereignty will not be up for discussion.
“The Falkland Islanders should be proud of the modern, prosperous community they have built.
