Tensions heat up between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands

Open this photo in gallery:A general view of Stanley, Falkland Islands from October, 2019. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump indicated that the U.S. might shed its neutral position on the islands' sovereignty.PABLO PORCIUNCULA/AFP/Getty ImagesFew issues spark more patriotic furor in Britain and Argentina than the fate of a small group of sparsely populated islands in the South Atlantic known by the British as the Falklands and by Argentinians as Las Islas Malvinas. After years of simmering tension, Argentina’s President Javier Milei turned up the heat late Thursday by announcing that his government would move to exert its authority over the islands and sanction companies involved in offshore oil exploration. “We will deploy all of our economic and diplomatic tools to dissuade the state and non-state actors who are violating our sovereignty,” he said in a televised address surrounded by his cabinet. Falkland Islanders urge Canada to back their right to self-determination at Americas assemblyHis comments brought swift condemnation from Britain’s Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting. “Our commitment to the Falklands is absolute and unshakeable,” Mr. Streeting wrote on X on Friday. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband added on X that “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.”Britain has long argued that its sovereignty over the remote collection of about 700 islands, which have around 3,600 residents, dates back roughly 500 years and that it has ruled the territories for centuries. Argentina’s claim goes back almost as long, to Spanish colonial times.The two countries fought a brief war in 1982, when the British military repelled an Argentinian invasion of the archipelago and re-established the U.K.’s claim. In a 2013 referendum, 99 per cent of islanders supported remaining a British overseas territory.This issue has remained a sore point in Argentina and it flared up during this summer’s World Cup. After defeating England 2-1 in the semi-finals, a couple of Argentinian players held up a banner that read “The Malvinas are Argentinian.”Open this photo in gallery:Argentina's Giovani Lo Celso holds a banner with the words 'The Malvinas are Argentine,' referring to the Falkland Islands, while teammate Nicolas Otamendi gestures to him, at the end of the World Cup semifinal soccer match between England and Argentina in Atlanta on July 15.Rebecca Blackwell/The Associated PressIn his address Mr. Milei pointed to recent supportive comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is an admirer of his South American counterpart. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump indicated that the U.S. might shed its neutral position on sovereignty and would not necessarily support Britain if another war broke out. Trump meets with Argentina’s president, the first foreign leader he’s met with since election“I was there when they had the first war, that was a long time ago. You comported yourself very well, took it back very shortly. But it is a long way away,” he told British broadcaster GB News. “So, your country’s not doing well. Don’t forget you get a big percentage of your oil from the Strait of Hormuz and you weren’t there to help me. Your country was not there to help me.”Mr. Milei seized on the remarks and said, “In the world, the winds are blowing favourably for our claim right now.”He echoed Mr. Trump in saying that Britain was “in decline” and confronting “multiple crises of a migratory, demographic and economic character that will be difficult to solve. However, Argentina is flourishing, and it will prevail.”Mr. Milei took aim at a joint venture by Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration and Navitas Petroleum of Israel, which is developing the Sea Lion oil field, an offshore deposit near the Falklands believed to contain around 1.7 billion barrels of oil. Calling the project a “clear and present danger,” Mr. Milei said, “We cannot stand by while our resources are taken away and our sovereignty is disrespected.”Argentine President Javier Milei escalated his country’s long-running dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands on Thursday, praising U.S. President Donald Trump for saying Washington could reconsider its historically neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty and vowing new measures to halt an offshore oil project near the British-controlled archipelago.The Associated PressIn a statement Rockhopper said the project is operating under licences “lawfully granted to it by the Government of the Falkland Islands, a self-governing U.K. Overseas Territory.”Increased tension over the islands poses a challenge for Britain’s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who took over from Keir Starmer in July. Mr. Burnham has minimal experience with international relations and he is expected to have his first meeting with Mr. Trump later this month in New York. Opinion: Britain lost its way with Thatcher and Brexit, Andy Burnham tells Parliament in first speechMr. Burnham is also grappling with concerns about the state of the country’s military. On Friday, media reports said the army has halted some training exercises to save money and it’s far from certain the navy could wage another war over the Falklands, which are roughly 13,000 kilometres away.Simon McDonald, former head of the Foreign Office who is now a member of the House of Lords, told the BBC on Friday that Britain should reassess its commitment to the islands. The islanders “have no incentive ever to change their minds even though it’s costing the Brits about half a billion pounds per year,” he said. “I think this absolute lock they have needs to be looked at again.”He added that Britain’s strategic interest “in the middle of the 21st century is not the same as it was when we went to war.” And he called on Britain and Argentina to resume diplomatic negotiations to protect the rights of islanders “but recognize that they are very remote and very difficult for the United Kingdom to defend.”