MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina and UK confirm cooperation in combating international crime and border threats

Argentine Security minister Alejandra Monteoliva meeting with UK Ambassador David Cairns.

Argentina and UK have coincided in strengthening cooperation in combating international crime, border threats caused by massive immigration and other related illegal activities. This was the result of a recent meeting between Argentine National Security minister Alejandra Monteoliva and British ambassador in Buenos Aires David Cairns.

Minister Monteoliva in her official X message confirmed that “With British Ambassador in Argentina, HE David Cairns we held a good meeting to review the bilateral agenda and advance in cooperation priorities. Security, combating trans-national crime and further institutional coordination to face the challenges”.

Allegedly according to Argentine media sources this dialogue reminds of the strategy planned by then president Carlos Menem in the context of diplomatic reconfiguration between Argentina and the UK. And precisely one of the objectives of this new approach is to be able to lift or make more flexible the British military equipment veto on Argentina, which persists since the conflict of 1982 .

In this framework, Argentine president Javier Milei is planning to make an official visit to the UK this year, which would be the first visit of an Argentine president to London since 1998 with Carlos Menem.

However it must be added that this latest meeting on security issues is not nothing new, since in mid-2025 when then Security minister Patricia Bullrich visited UK, she held talks with her counterpart, then Ivette Cooper (now Foreign Secretary) and other ministers, Dan Jarvis and Jess Phillips.

At the time agreements were reached regarding terrorism and organized crime, plus a commitment to jointly address issues from the combined activities of terrorism and narco-gangs. There was also a coincidence in protecting borders and combating the growing pressure from illegal immigration.

But as usually happens this last meeting stirred reaction from ultra nationalist groups that question British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, and the military presence at MPA, considered the “largest threat in the South Atlantic and to Argentina’s territorial integrity”.

However since both sides, Argentina and UK, consider Falklands “sovereignty non-negotiable”, even when Argentina admits that it must also include “the consent of the Falklands people,” a possible interpretation could be considered.

Given this situation, Argentine media speculate that some sort of the Madrid Agreements could be reached by leaving the discussion on sovereignty under the ‘umbrella formula’.

That is the diplomatic mechanism allowing the two sides to negotiate practical issues of mutual interest such as trade, fisheries, air links, sports, scientific research, avoiding military incidents, while setting aside for the time being, the fundamental dispute over sovereignty in the South Atlantic islands.