British Foreign Secretary
David Cameron
said during his visit to the Falklands that he hopes the islands will be British
"forever,"
despite Argentina's claims to sovereignty.
Speaking in Port Stanley after a ceremony for the victims of the 1982 war between British and Argentine troops, Cameron said that the United Kingdom will support the will of the Falklanders
"for as long as they want."
"As long as the Falkland Islands want to be part of the UK family, they are welcome to be and we will support them and help them protect and defend themselves for as long as they want. And I hope that is a long, long time,
possibly forever
," he said. Cameron, according to British media that accompanied the head of diplomacy on the trip.
At the same time, he wanted to lower the expectations raised by Javier Milei about an eventual negotiation on the future of the territory.
According to Cameron, he had a "warm and cordial" meeting with the Argentine president at the Davos Forum in January, although on the issue of the Foreign Falklands he pointed out that
"they agreed to disagree."
In his statements, the Foreign Minister noted that his country wishes to maintain good relations with the Argentine Government, which has taken "some positive steps."
However, he considered that the improvement in bilateral relations
"will never be at the expense of the wishes of the Falkland Islanders
," which must be considered "absolutely first."
Cameron visited iconic sites from the Falklands War on Monday, becoming the first Foreign Minister to travel to the islands in 30 years.
During his visit, the conservative politician will observe this Tuesday the work that the islanders do to protect their natural environment and will see some of the millions of penguins that live in the archipelago.
In March 2013, Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly supported a referendum in favor of remaining a British territory.
After his visit to the islands, Cameron will travel to Paraguay this Tuesday and then will travel to Brazil for the G20 meeting.
With information from EFE