Chagos Islands treaty is now ‘impossible to agree at political level’, UK minister says

A UK minister declares a sovereignty treaty with Mauritius 'impossible' after a sudden shift in US support under Donald Trump. | Contesto: cronaca

Punti chiave

• Chagos Islands treaty is now ‘impossible to agree at political level’, UK minister says

Contesto

A UK government minister has declared that a treaty to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is now politically impossible, halting a landmark bill in parliament. Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty told the House of Commons that the agreement, negotiated in close coordination with the United States, could not proceed following a withdrawal of American support. The announcement marks a dramatic reversal in a long-running diplomatic process and directly attributes the collapse to a change in position by former US President Donald Trump. The Chagos Archipelago, a remote chain of islands in the Indian Ocean, has been a subject of intense international dispute for decades. The UK separated the islands from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritius gained independence, and subsequently leased the largest island, Diego Garcia, to the United States for a major military base. Mauritius has consistently maintained its sovereignty claim, a position that gained significant traction in recent years. In 2019, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion stating the UK's continued administration was unlawful, and the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted for the UK to withdraw. The now-scuttled treaty was seen as the UK's pathway to resolving this contentious colonial legacy while addressing strategic concerns. The significance of the treaty's failure lies in its explicit linkage to US geopolitical interests. For the UK, the negotiations were always delicately balanced between honoring international legal rulings and maintaining the operational security of the Diego Garcia base, a critical asset for US and allied forces in the Indo-Pacific region. Minister Doughty's statement reveals that this balance was predicated on sustained US backing. The "close coordination" cited suggests the treaty's provisions were designed to safeguard the base's future under Mauritian sovereignty, a compromise that evidently required American political assurance to pass the UK's own parliamentary scrutiny. The reference to Donald Trump's changed position introduces a layer of political volatility into high-stakes diplomacy. While the statement did not...

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Categoria: cronaca