FRANCE: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez says the referendum in Crimea was as worthless as a poll held last year in the Falkland Islands in which its residents voted to stay under British rule

Record ID: 447963

  • Title: FRANCE: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez says the referendum in Crimea was as worthless as a poll held last year in the Falkland Islands in which its residents voted to stay under British rule
  • Date: 19th March 2014
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MARCH 19, 2014) (AGENCY POOL) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ GETTING OUT OF CAR AND SHAKING HANDS WITH FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE VARIOUS OF FERNANDEZ AND HOLLANDE POSING FOR PHOTOS BEFORE MEETING INSIDE ELYSEE PALACE FERNANDEZ AND HOLLANDE ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ SAYING: "When we talk about territorial integrity it should apply everywhere because my country suffers a territorial occupation of the Malvinas (Falkland islands) by the United Kingdom and the big powers such as United Kingdom and the United States have supported the referendum organised by the Kelpers which didn't have any value. So if the vote in Crimea didn't have any value when it is located a few kilometres from Russia then a vote in a colony located 13,000 miles overseas has an even less value." FERNANDEZ AND HOLLANDE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARGENTINE PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ SAYING: "What is fundamental for the respect of international law is not having double standards when it comes to taking decisions. You cannot support territorial integrity in Crimea and not support it in the Malvinas (Falklands) for Argentina. We should support territorial integrity everywhere based on the principle of sovereignty and history of these territories. At the end the Malvinas (Falklands) were always Argentine and Crimea was part of USSR until February 19, 1954 when it was offered to Ukraine by Nikita Khrustchev. So either we all respect the same principles or we live in a lawless world where there is no respect for each other's words but where the law of the strongest prevails." VIDEO CAMERA / NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE SAYING: "The discussions that we had on international problems such as Syria, Lebanon, because these are countries that matter to Argentina given the communities living there and also Ukraine where we found ourselves on simple principles such as the respect of the principle of international law and the integrity of borders." JOURNALIST WORKING ON LAPTOP HOLLANDE AND FERNANDEZ LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 3rd April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6JBCQN236CGHT8PVJ12I6BSPS
  • Story Text: Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, who has been campaigning for the Falkland Islands to become part of Argentina, said on Wednesday (March 19) last week's referendum in Crimea was as worthless as a vote held last year over the British territory in the South Atlantic.
    Fernandez has been increasingly vocal about Argentina's claim to the archipelago, a British Overseas Territory over which Britain and Argentina fought a war in 1982.
    "When we talk about territorial integrity it should apply everywhere because my country suffers a territorial occupation of the Malvinas (Falkland islands) by the United Kingdom and the big powers such as United Kingdom and the United States have supported the referendum organised by the Kelpers which didn't have any value," Fernandez said, speaking through an interpreter at a news conference with French President Francois Hollande in Paris.
    "So if the vote in Crimea didn't have any value when it is located a few kilometres from Russia then a vote in a colony located 13,000 miles overseas has an even less value," she added.
    "You cannot support territorial integrity in Crimea and not support it in the Malvinas (Falklands) for Argentina," she said.
    Britain says that Russia has broken international law and violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine by annexing Crimea.
    Residents of the Falklands - called Malvinas by Argentina - voted almost unanimously to stay under British rule in a referendum in March 2013.
    Britain asserted its rule over the islands, which lie off Argentina's southern coast, in 1833 despite Argentina's claims it inherited them from the Spanish on independence and that Britain expelled an Argentine population.
    The Falklands War, which killed about 650 Argentines and 255 Britons and ended when Argentina surrendered, is widely remembered in Argentina as a humiliating mistake by the discredited and brutal dictatorship in power at the time.
    Most Latin American countries and many other developing nations have voiced support for Argentina, which has stepped up its demands since London-listed companies started drilling for oil and natural gas off the Falklands' craggy coastline.
    We should support territorial integrity everywhere based on the principle of sovereignty and history of these territories. At the end the Falklands were always Argentine and Crimea was part of USSR until February 19, 1954 when it was offered to Ukraine by Nikita Khrustchev. So either we all respect the same principles or we live in a lawless world where there is no respect for each other's words but where the law of the strongest prevails," Fernandez said.
    Russian's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on March 14 said Crimea meant more to Russia than the Falklands mean to Britain.
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