UK rebuffs Milei on Malvinas, vows to keep British control

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband reaffirmed British control over the Malvinas Islands, pushing back against renewed efforts by Argentina's President Javier Milei to press longstanding claims to the South Atlantic island chain.

“The UK’s position on the Falkland Islands is unwavering,” Miliband wrote in a statement on social media. “The Islands are British and will remain so because that is the overwhelming position of the Islanders. Their right of self-determination is paramount, grounded in international law and we will resolutely uphold it.”

Milei threatened new sanctions on oil companies working in the region in an effort to assert his country’s claim to the islands, which are known in the UK as the Falklands. The Argentine president made the remarks in a national address on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump hinted that the US wouldn’t help the UK in any potential conflict over the islands.

The speech represented a departure from his leftist predecessors, who regularly swore to take back the islands after Britain cemented control following a brief war in 1982. 

“I want to be quite clear with everybody. The Malvinas are Argentine. Historically and legally,” Milei said. “There can be no argument. They are part of the Argentine territory. The islanders on their usurped territory do not have a legitimate right to self-determination and any argument on any such self-determination is invalid.”

He said the UK was facing “multiple crises on multiple fronts” and said he would sign decrees to introduce sanctions against any companies working on oil production in area. Milei’s own approval rating has fallen to near the lowest of his presidency, and taking up a nationalistic cause could help rally voters. 

The push comes as a British-linked offshore energy project in the region known as Sea Lion moves toward production. A UK unit of Israel’s Navitas Petroleum owns a majority stake in the project, with British partner Rockhopper Exploration Plc holding the rest.

Navitas Petroleum shares dropped as much as 5.5 percent in Tel Aviv while Rockhopper shares plunged as much as 12 percent in London, their steepest drop since last December.