EU backs down in Falkland Islands row as Sunak criticises 'regrettable choice of words'

Bloc used Argentina's favoured name to refer to disputed British Overseas Territory

British soldiers take part in a training exercise on the Falkland Islands 40 years on from the war. Photo: Ministry of Defence

The EU's reference to the Falkland Islands as “Islas Malvinas” was a "regrettable choice of words", Rishi Sunak's official spokesman has said.

The bloc's inclusion of Argentina's preferred term for the disputed islands in a trade deal sparked a diplomatic row with the UK and drew criticism from lawmakers in London.

The politically-charged reference was contained in a pact signed by the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac), a regional bloc of 33 countries, following a two-day summit.

British diplomats in Brussels were piling pressure on the EU this morning to reverse the decision to call the British Overseas Territory by the name long used by Argentina, which claims sovereignty over the outpost.

Downing Street said any suggestion that the EU would recognise Argentina’s claims on the Falklands would have been “entirely unacceptable”, as it welcomed a subsequent clarification that EU countries have not in fact changed their position on the status of the islands.

“The Prime Minister’s view is that it would have been entirely unacceptable for the EU to question the Falkland Islanders’ right to decide their own future," Mr Sunak’s official spokesman told reporters on Thursday. “To be clear, the Falkland Islands are British, that was the choice of the islanders themselves.

“The EU has rightly now clarified that their position on the Falklands has not changed after their regrettable choice of words.

“And just as a reminder, in the 2013 referendum 99.8 per cent of islanders voted to be part of the UK family. It’s a position supported by international law and the UN Charter which is binding on all UN members.

“And we will continue to defend the Falklands’ right to self-determination in all international forums and have called on the EU to respect the democratic rights of the Falkland Islands.”

He added: “The concern is any suggestion that EU states would recognise Argentina’s claims on the Falklands, which they have now clarified is incorrect.”

Buenos Aires hailed the inclusion of the term in the trade deal a “diplomatic triumph”.

But critics in the UK branded it a “pathetic appeasement of Argentina” by the 27-member bloc.

The document reads: “Regarding the question of sovereignty over the Islas Malvinas/Falkland Islands, the EU took note of Celac’s historical position based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful solution of disputes.”

The remote archipelago in the South Atlantic has for centuries been at the centre of a bitter dispute between Britain and Argentina.

Argentina’s invasion of the territory in 1982 sparked the Falklands War, which lasted 74 days and left 255 British servicemen and 649 Argentinian soldiers dead. The conflict ended when Argentina surrendered.

Argentinian soldiers march during the Falklands War in 1982. AFP

'Outrageous' choice of words

A former aide to Margaret Thatcher, who was Conservative prime minister during the war, criticised the EU’s decision to use Argentina’s favoured name for the islands.

Nile Gardiner branded the wording a “stupid and pathetic appeasement of Argentina by the EU”.

“The Falkland Islands are not ‘Islas Malvinas’,” he wrote on Twitter.

James Sunderland, a Tory MP who served in the Falklands, suggested the EU did not respect Britain’s claim to sovereignty over the islands.

“This is outrageous,” he said. “The UK has exercised de facto sovereignty over the Falkland Islands since 1833 and went to their defence in 1982.

“The good people of the Falklands have also overwhelmingly voted to remain British. The EU would be wise to respect British sovereignty, rather than waste its time with tokenism.”

Earlier, an EU insider suggested the bloc would not budge. A source said: “The UK is not part of the EU. They are upset by the use of the word Malvinas. If they were in the EU perhaps they would have pushed back against it.”

The official also said that “the Argentines have spun it in a certain way”.

Those on the Argentinian side, including Gustavo Martinez Pandiani, a minister in Argentina's foreign office, made much of the EU's choice of wording in the deal.

By using the term, “the EU opens the door to the discussion on the sovereignty of the islands and allows a greater individual approximation of the European countries towards the Argentine position”, he said.

Mr Pandiani called the inclusion of “Islas Malvinas” in the EU-signed document an “outstanding diplomatic achievement”.

In the years after the 2016 Brexit referendum, which saw the UK vote to leave the EU, relations between Britain and Brussels were strained.

But after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak entered No 10 in October last year a new era of friendship was ushered in.

The signing of the Windsor Framework by Mr Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in February was seen as a major milestone on the path towards better UK-EU relations.