MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei presides over Falklands fallen tribute amid thaw in relations with London

The ceremony takes place amid reports of a possible Milei trip to the United Kingdom, with the aim of negotiating, among other issues, the lifting of arms purchase restrictions on Argentina

Argentine President Javier Milei is leading Thursday's central ceremony marking Veterans Day and the Day of the Fallen in the Falklands War, at Plaza San Martín in Buenos Aires's Retiro neighborhood, where the cenotaph honoring soldiers killed in the 1982 conflict stands. The ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m., includes a presidential address, a wreath-laying, and a minute of silence before the unknown soldier plaque.

In his third consecutive year presiding over the commemoration, Milei will renew Argentina's sovereignty claim over the islands, a position he has called “non-negotiable,” while seeking to preserve the commercial and diplomatic rapprochement with the United Kingdom that has defined his administration.

“We will never renounce our sovereignty claim over the Malvinas,” Milei declared in an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph late last year. In the same conversation, the president said the disputed territory should be returned “through negotiation and when the islanders so desire,” and expressed willingness to advance everything that improves bilateral trade.

Those remarks drew a legal complaint from the Malvinas Islands Veterans Center of La Plata (Cecim), filed in January. Last year, his speech generated controversy when he referred to the islands' inhabitants as “Malvinenses” and linked the archipelago's recovery to Argentina's economic prosperity. “We hope that the Malvinenses will one day vote for us with their feet,” he said at the time.

The ceremony takes place amid reports of a possible Milei trip to the United Kingdom between April and May, with the aim of negotiating, among other issues, the lifting of arms purchase restrictions on Argentina linked to the islands dispute. Under his government, the relationship with London has seen steps toward détente, though without progress on the central diplomatic claim.

Much of the cabinet is expected to attend, including presidential secretary general Karina Milei, House Speaker Martín Menem, and Buenos Aires city chief Jorge Macri. Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni is also expected, despite an ongoing judicial investigation into alleged illicit enrichment and undeclared properties. The president reaffirmed him in the post on Wednesday.

Vice President Victoria Villarruel, who has distanced herself from the government and placed the Falklands cause at the center of her nationalist agenda, will attend a separate event in Buenos Aires province.

Meanwhile, the province of Tierra del Fuego will host a Peronist-led gathering. Governor Gustavo Melella will receive his counterparts from Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, and La Rioja, Ricardo Quintela, in Ushuaia, in events expected to feature a strong opposition presence and criticism of the national government's foreign policy.