British ministers have hit back after the Argentinian president said “winds of change” favourable to his country’s claim to the Falklands were “blowing around the world”.
Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, said the statement by Javier Milei on Thursday night “tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands”.
He added on X: “The Falklands are British because Falkland Islanders choose to be British. Our commitment to the Falklands is absolute and unshakeable.”
Lucy Powell, the education secretary, also insisted the islands were British, adding: “We will defend the right of those who live in the Falkland Islands to determine their own future.”
The latest diplomatic spat over the South Atlantic archipelago came after comments by the US president, Donald Trump, who has cast doubt on American support for British control of the islands.
The US has traditionally remained neutral on the Falklands’ sovereignty, while recognising Britain’s de facto control over them.
Britain and Argentina fought a war over the islands in ۱۹۸۲, when British forces defeated Argentinian troops, who had landed there to stake a territorial claim.
In more recent years, the British oil company Rockhopper and the Israeli company Navitas have been developing the Sea Lion oil field, ۱۴۰ miles to the north of the islands.
Asked on Monday whether he could review British sovereignty over the islands as a way to push the UK to spend more on defence, Trump said: “I always review every position. That’s just one of many.”
And on Thursday, when quizzed about whether the US would back the UK in the event of an Argentinian invasion, he referred to the government’s refusal to let him use British bases in his initial attack on Iran earlier this year.
“Don’t forget, you get a big percentage of your oil from the strait of Hormuz, and you weren’t there to help me,” he told GB News. “Your country was not there to help me.”
He added: “The Falklands is very interesting because your country is not the same country it was ۲۰ years ago, ۲۵ years ago. That was a long time [ago], you went there and you just took it back very quickly. There was no games, so I don’t know if you’re prepared to do that.”
In his statement on Thursday night, Milei highlighted Trump’s comments, saying: “President Trump declared that the US is re-evaluating its historic position in relation to the Malvinas [the Argentinian name for the Falklands].”
He added: “The US is considering this change of position because it knows that Argentina has a reliable partner, aligned with western values, in a strategically important position that can be a valuable ally in the decades to come.”
He also said companies developing oil “behind the back of the Argentine government” would be barred from doing business in Argentina.
Rockhopper’s shares dropped ۷% in early trading on Friday.
