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British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is not up for negotiation, Downing Street has said after Argentinian president Javier Milei declared that the territory “will become Argentine again”.
The libertarian leader, who idolises Margaret Thatcher, said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has shown the path for Argentina to claim sovereignty over the Falklands “in the long term”.
But, hitting back at the claim on Tuesday, Sir Keir’s official spokesman said: “Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands is not up for negotiation.”
He added that the Chagos Islands example was a “unique agreement based on its unique history and circumstances”. “It has no bearing on other overseas territories, it is an agreement that protects the long-term secure operation of the UK-US base, which plays such a crucial role in regional and international security,” the spokesman added.
It came as Argentina’s foreign minister Diana Mondino said the country is ready to restart flights to the Falkland Islands, with Mr Milei adopting a more conciliatory approach with the UK over the territory.
Flights were suspended during the pandemic, and never resumed due to frosty relations between Britain and Argentina. But Ms Mondino said “the conditions are in place” to restart flights.
And, in an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Milei said stronger diplomatic ties with Britain was key to Argentina taking sovereignty over the Falklands.
Referencing negotiations over the Chagos Islands, Mr Milei said: “By that mechanism, we believe that in the long term [the islands] will become Argentine again.”
He added: “If you are in conflict, you are not going to make any progress… with what the previous government was doing, they were never going to be Argentine again.”
The Falklands are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina, and most Falkland Islanders are of British descent.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the islands, known as Islas Malvinas in Argentina, which were the subject of a bloody conflict in 1982 when Argentine president Leopoldo Galtieri sought to take control of them by force.
The war claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.
UK ministers have repeatedly cited the results of a 2013 referendum which saw close to 100% of voters on the islands, which have a population of about 3,500, opt to remain a British Overseas Territory.
The latest flare-up in the dispute came after the UK said this month it had reached a political agreement with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, following negotiations which began in 2022.
Mauritius will assume sovereignty over the archipelago while the joint US-UK military base remains on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
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