Argentina Will Appeal to the U.N. Over UK 'Militarization' of Falklands

Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will file an official complaint with the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly concerning what she views as Britain’s “militarization” of the Falkland Islands.

Kirchner made the announcement to members of the Argentinian government and veterans of the Falklands War during an engagement on Tuesday.

“They’re militarizing the South Atlantic once again,” she said. “If there’s one thing that we’re going to preserve besides our natural resources, is a region where peace prevails.”

“We will present a complaint to the U.N. Security Council and the U.N. General Assembly, as this militarization poses a grave danger to international security,” the BBC quoted her saying.

The statement comes after the UK announced last month its plan to send a destroyer, the HMS Dauntless, to the area.

A spokesperson from the British government described the move as “routine,” the BBC reported.

The Falklands, known to Argentinians as the Malvinas, lie 285 milesoff the coast of Argentina and have been a British possession since 1833.

Argentina maintains territorial claims to the islands, however, and fought brief a war with Britain in 1982 over the issue, which it lost. The 30 year anniversary of the war will be in April.

Kirchner also expressed anger over Prince William’s recent deployment to the Falklands. William, second in line to the British throne, is currently serving there as a helicopter search and rescue pilot in the Royal Air Force.

Argentina’s foreign ministry described him as arriving “in the uniform of a conquistador,” Reuters reports.

Kirchner’s planned appeal to the U.N. follows her government’s intentions to bring the Falklands issue to the international stage. As of December, Mercosur, a regional trade bloc, will not allow ships based in the Falkland Islands into its ports. Mercosur nations, including Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, support Argentina’s claims to the islands.

The UK refuses to negotiate the status of the Falklands unless residents of the islands express a wish for a change.

“We will never negotiate sovereignty without the consent of the islanders. Self-determination is an established principle in international affairs, embedded in the UN Charter,” UK Foreign Secretary William Hague stated in an article last month.