MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Milei: the alliance with Washington is the “key” to sovereignty over the Falklands

Milei described the claim as non-negotiable and said his government has achieved the greatest diplomatic progress since 1983 toward placing the archipelago under Argentine administration

Argentine President Javier Milei said on Monday that his government's alignment with the United States will advance Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falklands, in remarks to Radio Mitre.

The United States has changed its strategic view of the world, he said, and needs a reliable ally on the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific; Argentina meets those conditions, and that is the key that will allow it to recover the islands. No public statement from Washington supports that reading: the US position on the sovereignty dispute has historically been one of neutrality.

Milei described the claim as non-negotiable and said his government has achieved the greatest diplomatic progress since 1983 toward placing the archipelago, along with South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and surrounding maritime areas, under Argentine administration. That is the president's own assessment.

He also said that for the first time the UN is obliging the United Kingdom to sit down for talks. The claim is inaccurate. Resolutions by the Decolonization Committee urging Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume discussions are non-binding and have been adopted for decades, without sovereignty negotiations taking place. Britain's consistent position is that sovereignty is not up for discussion and that any change would depend on the islanders' wishes.

The Falklands are a British Overseas Territory. In a 2013 referendum, residents voted overwhelmingly to retain that status. Argentina maintains a claim over the archipelago, which the United Kingdom has administered since 1833.

Asked about the Sea Lion oil project, developed by British and Israeli companies in waters near the islands that Argentina claims, Milei said his government had lodged the corresponding diplomatic protests but defended the venture's private character. Argentina is an ally of the United States and Israel, he said, but the company is private, and a serious country does not interfere in the private sector. The project's first phase envisages investment of around 1.8 billion dollars and estimated output above 170 million barrels.

The president also addressed the banner reading “Las Malvinas son argentinas” displayed by Argentine players after the World Cup semifinal against England, saying the episode had not affected dialogue with London. Sporting matters are one thing and matters of national identity another, he said. On July 29, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against the Argentine Football Association that include messages with political content.

The strategy is not new: Milei had already set it out at the April 2 commemoration, when he linked the claim to alignment with Washington and to rearmament.