The public mood in the United Kingdom was to support an attempt to reclaim the islands. International opinion was divided. To some, Britain was a former colonial power seeking to reclaim a lost colony from a local power, and this was a message that the Argentines initially used to garner support (this was the prevailing international opinion in which India annexed Goa in 1961; see also decolonization). Others supported Britain under the premise that it was a stable democracy invaded by a military dictatorship, along with the concept of the self-determination of the islanders, who wished to remain British. Whilst remaining diplomatically neutral, most European countries, members of the Commonwealth, and the United States, supported Britain.