Britain Outraged: EU Signs Agreement Referring to the Falkland Islands as 'Malvinas'

Forty-one years after the Falklands War, Great Britain has suffered a diplomatic defeat regarding the archipelago as the EU approves the Argentine name for the disputed territory, the Malvinas, The Guardian reports.

Brussels signed a declaration supported by Argentina regarding the Falkland Islands at the EU-Latin America and Caribbean (CELAC) summit on Tuesday, which Buenos Aires called a "diplomatic triumph."

Argentine President Alberto Fernández, who was in Europe, tweeted, "We concluded the summit with excellent news – the EU and CELAC have accepted our proposal on the Falkland Islands issue. Our claims to sovereignty remain intact through peaceful means and dialogue."

The document was published yesterday after a two-day summit.

Now, British diplomats in Brussels are fighting with the European Union to revoke the decision to refer to the Falkland Islands as the "Malvinas" in the declaration.

They had previously appealed to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, to "clarify" the bloc's position.

According to reports, an EU official, referring to Brexit, told the Financial Times, "It was agreed by the 27 member states and CELAC countries. We cannot make a statement on their behalf. The use of the word 'Malvinas' upsets them. If they were in the EU, maybe they would oppose it."

The EU representative added that the Argentines "have somehow played this up."

Buenos Aires declared that the EU has officially recognized the Latin American position on the islands for the first time in a joint declaration.

In the declaration approved by 32 out of 33 CELAC countries (Nicaragua refused to sign due to the wording regarding the conflict in Ukraine), it states: "Regarding the sovereignty issue over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, the European Union takes note of CELAC's historical position, which is based on the importance of dialogue and respect for international law in the peaceful resolution of disputes."

In March, the UK government insisted that the Falkland Islands are British territory after Argentina terminated a cooperation agreement and pushed for negotiations on the islands' sovereignty.

The archipelago in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean has long been a disputed territory between Britain and Argentina. The culmination of the conflict was the Falklands War in 1982, which claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen.