MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

“Our future is for the people who live here to decide,” Falklands Assembly tells Milei

The statement, issued on behalf of the Assembly as a whole and carrying no individual signature, does not name Argentina and refers to Milei only once, in noting the time elapsed since his address

The Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly issued a statement on Friday in response to Argentine President Javier Milei's address, maintaining that the archipelago's future is for those who live there to decide. “The Falkland Islands are a self-governing British Overseas Territory, and our future is a matter for the people who live here to decide,” the text says, adding that this is “a right grounded in international law” and that “it is not altered by the statements of any other government.”

The statement, issued on behalf of the Assembly as a whole and carrying no individual signature, does not name Argentina and refers to Milei only once, in noting the time elapsed since his address. “Statements like the ones made this week are not new to us,” it says. “Our long-established community has faced pressure of this kind many times over the decades, and despite this the Islands have continued to grow, develop, and thrive.”

The text recalls that in the 2013 referendum, on a turnout of 92%, residents voted 99.8% in favor of remaining a self-governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom. “That democratic choice is clear, and it remains unchanged,” it states.

The Assembly also thanks the United Kingdom for “the strong and unwavering support of the UK Government” for the islanders' self-determination and says that backing has been reaffirmed since Milei's address “at the highest levels, from Downing Street, Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, and friends and partners internationally.” The statement closes by saying islanders remain “confident, settled and focused on the future our people have chosen.”

The text makes no reference to the sanctions announced by Milei against oil companies or to the Sea Lion field, and confines itself to the question of self-determination.

In his message on Thursday night, Milei said the archipelago is Argentine “historically and legally” and that “the islanders on their usurped territory do not have a legitimate right to self-determination.” The president announced sanctions against companies involved in hydrocarbon extraction in the disputed area, an increase in funding to build a naval base in Tierra del Fuego, and warned that “Argentina will not stand idly by.” Any further advance on the islands, he said, “will be considered a violation of our national security.”

The first reaction from the British government came hours later, when Defence Secretary Wes Streeting wrote that the United Kingdom's commitment to the Falklands is “absolute and unshakeable” and that Milei's statement “tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands.”

The Legislative Assembly is the archipelago's unicameral body and has eight elected members, five for Stanley and three for Camp. Its most recent general election was held on December 11, 2025. The islands, some 500 kilometers east of Argentina's southern coast, have been administered by the United Kingdom since 1833 and are claimed by Argentina, which does not recognize the 2013 referendum.