J. Milei presented D. Trump’s comments as evidence that his close relationship with the US president, criticized by political opponents as overly submissive, is bearing fruit.
“The United States is considering this change of position because it knows that Argentina has a reliable partner, adhering to Western values, in a strategically important position, who could be a valuable ally in the coming decades,” J. Milei said on national television.
Then the Argentine leader announced large-scale actions aimed at stopping the development of the deepwater oil project “Sea Lion,” located about 220 km north of the islands. Here, the British company Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum plan to start drilling in the coming months and extract oil in 2028. Argentina considers this project an illegal exploitation of resources in waters it considers its own.
He threatened stricter sanctions on companies involved in offshore drilling and announced new funding for a naval base in the southernmost Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego to strengthen the country’s military presence near the islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas Islands.
“Argentina will not sit idly by,” J. Milei said. “Any further move towards the Malvinas Islands will be considered a violation of our national security.”
UK: the islands belong to the British
Meanwhile, UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said on Friday that the Falkland Islands belong to the British and that Britain’s commitment to them is “absolute and unwavering.”
“The Falkland Islands belong to the British because the Falkland Islanders choose to be British,” W. Streeting said on social media after J. Milei’s address.
J. Milei’s efforts to refocus attention on the Falklands are an unexpected turn for a leader who has faced criticism at home for warming relations with the UK and admiration for Margaret Thatcher – the British prime minister hated in Argentina for her leadership of the campaign to retake the archipelago during the 1982 Falklands War.
The two-month conflict, in which 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers, and three island residents died, remains a painful topic in Argentina more than four decades later.
The claim to sovereignty is enshrined in the Argentine constitution and is often used as an expression of national identity – from banknotes to World Cup chants. It is also one of the few topics that transcend the country’s sharp political divides, giving J. Milei, who will seek re-election next year, a favorable political opportunity as his support ratings fall and the economy stalls.
“We can argue about my style. We can disagree about fiscal or currency policies,” J. Milei said. “But there are things that rise above any political differences. The Malvinas Islands are one of them.”
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Some viewed this skeptically.
“He wants to use the legitimate sovereignty claim over the Malvinas Islands to regain ground ahead of the election year and serve US interests in their dispute with the UK,” said left-wing opposition legislator Nicolas del Cano.
D. Trump questions US support for British sovereignty
Argentina claims sovereignty over the islands inherited from the former colonizer Spain, while the UK has illegally occupied them since 1833. The UK rejects this claim, citing the islanders’ desire to remain a British overseas territory.
For decades, successive US administrations have maintained neutrality on the competing claims while recognizing the UK’s de facto administration of the islands. Any retreat from this position would be a major diplomatic shock and would fuel already high transatlantic tensions.
On Monday, D. Trump caused concern in the UK when asked if his administration was reviewing its position on the decades-long dispute, replying: “I always review every position. This is just one of many.”
Later, in a Thursday interview broadcast on the British channel GB News, D. Trump avoided a direct answer to whether the US would “come to the aid” of the UK in another Falklands conflict. Instead, he reiterated previous complaints that the UK did not provide enough support for the US-led bombing campaign against Iran.
“Your country did not help me,” D. Trump said, recalling former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s words that the country has no ships to contribute to the campaign. “The whole situation was quite sad.”
D. Trump’s administration has previously used the Falklands issue as leverage: an internal Pentagon email leaked in April first raised the prospect that Washington might reconsider its position on the islands as one possible way to punish NATO allies who refused to join the US war with Iran.
Because of these comments, Downing Street was forced to emphasize that the UK will not relinquish sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
“Sovereignty belongs to the UK, and the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount,” UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s spokesman Tom Wells said earlier this week, referring to the 2013 referendum in which about 4,000 Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain a British overseas territory.
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