Argentine President Javier Milei reaffirmed Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the islands known to Britain as the Falklands and to Argentines as the Malvinas, calling it a key issue for his nation and urging the parties to find a “peaceful solution” as tensions with London over the disputed archipelago grow.
“The Malvinas for us is a national cause,” Milei, a strong ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Wednesday while addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Milei accused the United Nations of failing to enforce international resolutions that urge the parties to “refrain from introducing unilateral changes while the dispute remains unresolved.” He also called on Britain to resume negotiations to “find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute.”
“The Malvinas issue is not merely a matter between Argentina and the United Kingdom; it is also a question regarding this organization’s ability to enforce its own resolutions,” he said.
Dispute escalated
Milei has recently stepped up his efforts to draw attention back to the islands after facing some criticism of his strengthening ties with Britain and his professed admiration for Margaret Thatcher, who in 1982 led the British campaign to retake the archipelago during the Falklands War.
Following Argentina’s invasion of the Falklands under the country’s then-military dictatorship, Thatcher sent a task force all the way down the Atlantic and retook the islands after just 73 days of Argentine control. The war killed 649 Argentine and 255 British troops.
Earlier this month, Milei escalated the dispute with Britain, vowing new measures to halt an oil project near the British-controlled archipelago and praising Trump for saying Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty.
His government last week introduced a sweeping security bill that would toughen sanctions on companies exploiting resources around the islands without Argentine authorization, create a national security council chaired by Milei and expand the military’s role in protecting critical Argentine infrastructure.
Speaking to global leaders at the U.N. on Wednesday, Milei intensified his criticism.
“Today I come to say that Argentina will not sit and wait for the U.N. and the international community to live up to their own mandate,” he said.
He also sharply criticized the United Nations and its role, accusing it of becoming “a useless organization that serves only to feed a caste of fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats.”
Britain says it will ‘stand firm’
Against the backdrop of Milei’s recent remarks, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham also addressed the dispute during this high-profile diplomatic week, stating Tuesday that the U.K.’s position is “clear” and that it will “stand firm” in the face of any threats.
“We will defend the right of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination and to remain British,” Burnham told reporters following a meeting with Trump late Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N.
In August, Trump said he was reviewing the United States’ neutral position over the remote South Atlantic archipelago as he criticized Britain for not doing enough to support the U.S. war against Iran.
The Falklands, which Argentines call the Malvinas, are a small archipelago of about 3,500 people located around 300 miles (480 kilometers) east of the southeast coast of Argentina. They have been a British overseas territory since 1833. In a 2013 referendum, the islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory, with 99.8% voting in favor and just three votes against.
