MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina envoy asks French lawmakers to cover “Falklands” label on map during hearing

“As a representative of the Argentine state, I cannot speak freely in front of that map,” Sielecki said

Argentina’s ambassador to France, Ian Sielecki, halted the start of a hearing at France’s National Assembly and refused to speak while a map behind him displayed the Falklands/Malvinas as UK territory. Proceedings resumed only after a staff member covered the islands with a sticky note.

The exchange took place before the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee after Sielecki noticed the map included the label “R-U” (United Kingdom) next to the archipelago. “As a representative of the Argentine state, I cannot speak freely in front of that map,” he said, arguing that doing so would amount to “legitimising” a situation he described as a breach of Argentina’s sovereignty and of international law.

Committee chair Bruno Fuchs replied that “everyone knows this is disputed territory” and that the map was not intended to assign sovereignty. Sielecki countered that the cartography nonetheless identified it as British, likening the setting to a hypothetical scenario in which Ukraine’s ambassador was asked to address lawmakers in front of a map showing occupied territories as part of Russia. After a brief pause, the islands were covered with a yellow “post-it” and the hearing continued.

The moment quickly spread on social media. Sielecki later posted a message on X defending his stance—“They are Argentine… any decent Argentine would have done the same,” according to local coverage.

“Acabo de ver que muestran las Islas Malvinas como parte del Reino Unido”

Durante la Asamblea Nacional, el embajador argentino en Francia, Ian Sielecki, dijo que hablar frente a un mapa que no reconoce las islas como argentinas “implica legitimar una vulneración a la soberanía”. pic.twitter.com/DZ6pXKp7G7

— Corta (@somoscorta) January 22, 2026

The episode underscores how naming conventions in official or semi-official settings can inflame long-running disputes. Argentina and the UK have maintained opposing claims over the Falklands/Malvinas for decades; the islands have been under British administration since 1833 and were the site of the 1982 war. For Buenos Aires, terminology and map labels are not neutral details but part of the sovereignty dispute’s diplomatic theatre.

Sielecki—educated in France and the UK—was appointed under President Javier Milei and has promoted closer bilateral ties with Paris, while also signalling that Argentina will continue raising the Falklands/Malvinas issue in international arenas.