UK will defend Falklands ‘by force’ if necessary

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has reaffirmed Britain’s commitment to the Falkland Islands, saying the UK will use force if necessary to defend the territory. In a national address overnight, the Argentine president, Javier Milei, said the “winds of change” were blowing in favour of Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the British-held Falkland Islands.

Escalating tensions, the right-wing leader also threatened sanctions against oil companies operating in the area. Earlier this month, the Argentine government imposed sanctions on individuals and companies involved in oil exploration around the Falkland Islands and said it would file a criminal complaint against Navitas Petroleum over its operations in the region. He added that Donald Trump’s willingness to reconsider the US position on the islands was “not empty words.”

Following the speech Streeting gave a firm response in an interview with The Sun where he emphasised the Falklands’ position as a British territory. He said: “This isn’t 1982. The Argentinians lack the ability to take the Falkland Islands. We have the ability to defend the Falkland Islands.

“What we’ve seen from the president of Argentina is the same thing we hear from the Argies year in year out: whinging about the Falklands, saying it’s theirs.”

He added: “This issue was settled in 1982, and it remains the settled will of the Falkland Islanders, the overwhelming majority of whom you know choose to be British, and we we back we back the Falklands.”

“The Argentinians don’t have the capability to take the Falklands. Britain does have the capability to defend them.”

The Falklands have been a British territory since 1833. A 2013 referendum saw a turnout of 92%, with 99.8% of voters backing the Falkland Islands’ continued status as a self-governing Overseas Territory of the UK.

The Argentinian leader also made the row over the Falklands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas, the centrepiece of his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

During his tirade Argentina’s president demanded talks with Andy Burnham over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands and proceeded to hit out at the “useless organisation” over its failure to make the UK hand over the British Overseas Territory as he threatened to “take matters into our own hands”.

He said: “An organisation established to defend the territorial sovereignty of its members decided to look the other way with regard to the situation of the Malvinas.

“I have come to tell you that Argentina is not going to sit around waiting for the UN and the international community to live up to their own mandate. We’re going to take matters into our own hands.”

But responding to his speech, the British UN delegation said: “The United Kingdom has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.”