Sticky note saves the day – Malvinas map row sparks diplomatic protest at French National Assembly

A yellow sticky note helped avert a diplomatic incident on Wednesday at the French National Assembly, after Argentina’s ambassador refused to begin a hearing while seated in front of a map showing the Malvinas as British territory.

As he thanked the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee for receiving him, Argentina’s Ambassador to France Ian Sielecki pointed out at the very start of the hearing "a small problem … which is in fact a major problem for my country."

"I have just noted that I am seated in front of a map that shows the Malvinas Islands as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain," he said, as revealed in a video broadcast by the parliamentary channel LCP.

"I cannot, as a representative of the Argentine state, speak freely in front of that map. Doing so would mean legitimising a situation that constitutes an attack on my country’s sovereignty, on the dignity of the Argentine nation, and a flagrant violation of international law," he added.

The diplomat compared the situation to asking Ukraine’s ambassador to speak in front of a map showing Luhansk or Crimea as a legitimate part of Russia.

At his request, that section of the map was covered with a yellow sticky note, allowing the hearing devoted to his country to proceed.

The Malvinas Islands, located some 600 kilometres off Argentina’s Patagonian coast, was the scene of a war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982, which claimed the lives of 649 Argentines and 255 Britons over 74 days.

Argentina claims sovereignty over the islands, a claim British denies.

– TIMES/AFP