European citizens have been questioned about the territorial dispute between the United Kingdom and Argentina, who both claim the Falkland Islands.
Islas Malvinas or Falkland Islands?
More than 40 years after the 10-week war between the United Kingdom and Argentina, the British archipelago, located less than 500 km from the Argentinian coast, continues to arouse controversy.
A new YouGov EuroTrack poll asked Europeans, as well as Brits and Americans, what they thought about the following question:“Who should belong to the Falklands, to the United Kingdom or to Argentina?”
In the United Kingdom, a large majority (57%) think that sovereignty over the Falklands belongs to them, while only 16% believe that the archipelago should return to Argentina.
35% and 33% of Britons respectively say they would “upset” if the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar left the UK, while 32% say the same about Northern Ireland.
But Does the rest of Europe agree with the British? ?
While around 30% of Danes and Swedes support the British claim, the same proportion of Germans and Italians believe Argentina has sovereignty over the Falklands.
The Spanish are more categorical. Some 52% of them consider that the islands should belong to Argentina, and compare this territorial difference to the situation in Gibraltar.
According to a recent survey, only 18% of Britons would be willing to return Gibraltar to Spain.
This new poll comes after the very tense standoff between the British government and the European Union, which finally decided to recognize the Spanish name of the archipelago in addition to its British name.
As British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak released a statement deploring the “unfortunate choice of words” of the EU, Argentinian Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero welcomed the EU’s desire to “take note” of his government’s territorial claim.
