Downing Street has hit back at remarks made by Argentina’s foreign minister over the Falkland Islands just days before the World Cup semi-final.
England took a stride closer to the final with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Norway in extra time on Saturday night, and will now face Argentina on Wednesday in a fixture rich in history.
But Downing Street has been forced to slap down comments made by Pablo Quirno in the days before the game, after he claimed Falklands Islanders were an “artificially implanted” population.
Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands, which are administered by the UK but are still claimed by Argentina.
Argentina’s foreign minister called on his country not to “fall into the referendum trap” as he claimed the 2013 vote was effectively illegitimate.
Insisting the population of the Falklands were “artificially implanted by the occupying power”, he wrote in La Nacion: “For this reason, no referendum organised unilaterally by the United Kingdom can have legal effect on a controversy whose resolution belongs exclusively to Argentina and the United Kingdom through negotiations.”
He also wrote that the islands are a “special and particular colonial situation, originating in the violation of Argentina’s territorial integrity”.
“Time does not transform an illegitimate occupation into sovereignty. Nor will it divide the territorial unity of the Argentine Republic,” he wrote.
Downing Street flatly rejected his claims, saying the Falkland islanders are “British with a right to determine their own future”.
Asked about Mr Quirno’s comments, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “Well, no.”
He added: “The UK’s position is clear. The islanders have repeatedly expressed their wish to remain a British overseas territory, and their right to self-determination is paramount.
“In 2013, the people of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory.”
Buenos Aires has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and was defeated in a short but bloody war after mounting an invasion in 1982, the shadow of which hangs over UK-Argentine relations to this day.
Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.
England will face Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday after their 2-1 victory against Norway last week.
Asked whether the intervention was extremely unhelpful, the spokesman said Sir Keir Starmer’s focus was on the football, and in response to chants from Argentine fans, the official said: “I think I think the Prime Minister’s view is that football should be about a game and about bringing people together. That’s what fans want to see.”
