Falklands: UK says islands are British after Milei claim

Britain said the Falkland Islands are British after Argentine President Javier Milei renewed Argentina's claim to the South Atlantic territory and announced sanctions linked to a British-Israeli oil project near the islands.

“The Falklands are British because Falkland Islanders choose to be British,” British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting wrote on social media on Friday. He said the UK's commitment to the islands was “absolute and unshakeable”.

Milei said in a televised address on Thursday that Argentina would not “stand idly by” over the oil project near the islands, which Argentines call Las Malvinas. He announced sanctions on firms linked to oil extraction in what he called Argentine territory under British occupation.

Milei said there were “winds of change” favourable to Argentina's claim, pointing to US President Donald Trump's announcement that Washington was reviewing its position on the Falkland Islands.

Trump told GB News on Thursday that the 1982 Falklands War was “a long time ago” and declined to confirm whether he would back Britain in a potential new dispute with Argentina.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the islanders' “right of self-determination is paramount, grounded in international law and we will resolutely uphold it”.

On Tuesday, Argentine Falklands War veterans and environmental lawyers filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the oil project, led by British company Rockhopper and Israeli company Navitas.

Rockhopper controls 35 percent of a major oil field off the Falklands, with Navitas holding the rest. Rockhopper shares fell about seven percent on Friday morning, while the companies said Milei's statement would not affect the project. They said they were operating with valid oil licences and with the full and continuing support of the British government.

Milei said the project violated a United Nations resolution calling on both sides to avoid unilateral actions in the islands. He said companies involved in Falklands projects without Argentine government approval would be barred from operating in Argentine territory.

Argentina and Britain fought a 10-week war in 1982 after Argentine forces invaded the islands, which have been ruled by Britain since the 19th century. The conflict killed 649 Argentines, 255 Britons and three islanders. The islanders voted overwhelmingly in 2013 to remain British.