David Cameron and Argentine President Javier Milei have agreed to disagree over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said on Wednesday.
The foreign secretary met Mr. Milei in Davos on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in what the FCDO said was a “warm and cordial” discussion.
The newly elected Argentine president has suggested a Hong Kong-style agreement that would see the UK hand sovereignty of the islands in the South Atlantic to Buenos Aires.
He said Lord Cameron and his Argentine counterpart Diana Mondino would “move forward in finding a solution” to the dispute over the islands.
But the FCDO said the leaders “politely” agreed to disagree.
“On the Falkland Islands, the foreign secretary and Mr. Milei said they would agree to disagree, and do so politely. The UK position and ongoing support for the Falkland Islanders’ right to self-determination remains unchanged,” a spokesperson said, alluding to a referendum in 2013 in which almost all of the 3,500 residents opted to remain under British rule.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falklands, while Mr. Milei has previously suggested the UK should approach the issue in a similar way to the handover of Hong Kong to Beijing in 1997.
After the meeting with Lord Cameron, Mr. Milei was asked by Latin American news website Infobae whether there was scope for a resolution to the Falklands issue based on that model.
“We have not made in-depth progress, but we have made it an item on the agenda for our minister Diana Mondino and minister Cameron to move forward in finding a solution on the topic,” he said, according to a translation.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Lord Cameron said he and Mr. Milei talked about “building cooperation on trade and combating global threats.”
“There is much that the UK and Argentina can achieve by working together,” he wrote, adding that he wishes Mr. Milei well “in his attempts to bring Argentina back to economic growth.”
The FCDO said the pair set out “mutual support for a more constructive relationship between the UK and Argentina” and discussed “how to enhance UK-Argentina relations through greater cooperation on areas of mutual interest including trade, education, culture and enhancing people-to-people links.”
The Falklands, known as Islas Malvinas in Argentina, are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina.
Argentina has been continuously claiming the British-run islands in the South Atlantic, over which the two countries fought a war in 1982, which Argentina lost.
The war claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentine personnel.
After Mr. Milei reportedly said that Argentina should try to “recover” the islands through “diplomatic channels” during his election campaign, Downing Street said in November last year that the control over the archipelago was an “issue that was settled decisively some time ago.”
“The UK has no doubt about the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, and indeed South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The UK Government will continue to proactively defend the Falkland islanders’ right to self-determination,” a spokesperson said at the time.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps echoed the statement, writing on X, “The Falkland Islands are British. That is non-negotiable and undeniable.
“Ninety-nine point eight percent of islanders voted to remain British and we will always defend their right to self-determination and the UK’s sovereignty with HMS Forth now back to protect the islands,” Mr. Shapps wrote at the time.
