Argentina’s president Javier Milei has claimed the future of the Falkland Islands could be discussed in talks with the UK following a meeting with British foreign secretary David Cameron.
The Argentine leader has suggested a Hong Kong-style agreement which would see the UK hand sovereignty of the islands in the South Atlantic to Buenos Aires.
He said the UK foreign secretary and his Argentine counterpart Diana Mondino would “move forward in finding a solution” to the dispute over the islands.
There is much that the UK and Argentina can achieve by working together.
I met President @JMilei to discuss building cooperation on trade and combatting global threats.
I wished him well in his attempts to bring Argentina back to economic growth. pic.twitter.com/oSmLb48sru— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) January 17, 2024
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Mr Milei met the foreign secretary at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Mr Cameron said the pair discussed “building co-operation on trade and combating global threats” and there was “much that the UK and Argentina can achieve by working together”.
But he made no mention of the Falkland Islands and the UK’s position is their sovereignty is not up for negotiation.
Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falklands and Mr Milei has previously suggested that the UK should approach the issue in a similar way to the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Following the meeting with Mr Cameron, he 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.
The UK Foreign Office has been asked for a response to his comments.
The Falklands, known as Islas Malvinas in Argentina, were the subject of a bloody conflict in 1982.
The war claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.
UK ministers have repeatedly cited the results of a 2013 referendum which saw close to 100 per cent of voters on the islands, which have a population of about 3,500, opt to remain a British Overseas Territory.
The Falklands are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina.
