Following a two-day meeting, Argentina and the U.K. agreed Tuesday to renew civilian flights from Argentina to the Malvinas Islands, reported La Nacion, quoting both foreign ministries' sources.
RELATED:
'Colonial' UK Announce Military Drills in Argentina's Malvinas
Travel to the islands is currently limited. Apart from military flights or cruise ships, LATAM is the only international carrier that flies to the Malvinas, often with long layovers. The limited flights were part of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's strategy to increase Argentine control over the disputed islands.
The flights would take off from Rio Gallegos once a month, added the sources without further details, nor the name of the airline in charge of the future flights.
“There was a very good harmony with the U.K., as well as with the residents of the islands, also present during the negotiations,” said a state official according to the daily.
The U.K. first occupied the Malvinas in 1833, which it calls the Falklands Islands, and Argentina has claimed sovereignty ever since. In 1982, a war over the islands ended with Argentina's military dictatorship defeated. The islands are currently governed as a British overseas territory, but a March U.N. ruling said that the islands were in Argentine waters.
Both foreign ministries are expected to give more details in a communique issued at a later date.
While the political control of the Malvinas has been a contentious issue between the two nations, the announcement comes amid a wider opening up of relations and trade on the islands pushed by right-wing President Mauricio Macri.