South America · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Javier Milei Tells UN It Ignores Falkland Islands Dispute With United Kingdom
Milei says UN is looking the other way on the Falklands dispute with the UK. He calls Malvinas a national cause and urges resumption of negotiations with London.
15 outlets told this the same way.
4 of 5 outlets skipped it: milei says self-determination does not apply because settlers were implanted.
15outlets compared
Milei Targets UN Inaction
Argentina’s President Javier Milei told the UN General Assembly in New York that the United Nations was “looking the other way” on Argentina’s long-standing dispute with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, known to Argentines as Las Malvinas. Milei called the islands a “national cause” and argued that British-backed plans to extract oil from waters Argentina claims as its own run counter to a 1976 UN General Assembly resolution calling on Argentina and the UK to negotiate and avoid unilateral action in the meantime. Milei said “Any such activity not authorised by the Argentine Republic … constitutes an unlawful act,” and he described Argentina’s response as a “peaceful, practical, and effective defence.”
Milei pointed to Sea Lion, a major oil project about 220km (140 miles) north of the islands, saying its owners, UK-based Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum, were expected to begin drilling in the coming months with production planned for 2028. Argentina’s government, Milei said, had begun sanctions proceedings against 60 companies and individuals linked to offshore drilling near the islands, while British officials rejected the measures and said the Falklands have the right to develop their own natural resources.
Speech Devotes Most Time
Chequeado’s Data Center found that Milei dedicated almost 7 of the 20 minutes of his speech before the 81st United Nations General Assembly to Malvinas, which he defined as a “national cause.” Chequeado’s analysis said the sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands appeared 6 times in the presentation, and it reported that Milei’s remarks on Wednesday were part of a broader attack on the UN. Milei told the General Assembly, “What good is a resolution if for decades the counterpart can act in the opposite direction and that resolution remains intact in the archives, but powerless before reality?”
Milei also said, “an institution [alluding to the UN] that cannot weigh its word on the facts loses the most important thing, its authority,” and he argued that “under that reality, those who follow the rules receive no reward whatsoever, while those who break them receive not the slightest retaliation.” Chequeado’s survey also said climate change appeared in 8 of the 19 presidential speeches before the UN, and it reported that Milei questioned the UN’s handling of the pandemic by labeling it a “genocide.”
Britain Rejects and Defends
The United Kingdom reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, which it calls the Falkland Islands, as well as over the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands, after Milei claimed Argentina’s sovereignty before the UN General Assembly. London stated that it “harbors no doubts” about its sovereignty over the islands and their adjacent maritime zones, and it defended the right of the inhabitants of the Falklands to determine their political status and to freely pursue their economic, social, and cultural development. The UK government argued that islanders’ right is enshrined in the United Nations Charter and in Article 1 of the two UN human rights covenants, and it recalled the 2013 referendum where 1,513 of 1,517 voters chose to maintain the status of the islands as a UK Overseas Territory.
Argentina’s government, Milei said, would act against companies that exploit natural resources on the islands without Argentine authorization, and Milei warned that “Argentina will not sit by and wait for the UN and the international community to live up to their own mandate.” The British government rejected Argentina’s position on UN resolutions 2065 and 31/49 by saying they do not modify or diminish the obligation to respect the right to self-determination, and it maintained that Argentine law does not apply in the Falklands.