Milei calls UN ‘useless’ and threatens unilateral action over islands
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham told US President Donald Trump that Britain would “stand firm in the face of any threats” and defend the Falkland Islanders’ right to self-determination, in the two leaders’ first meeting this week. The exchange came as Argentine President Javier Milei addressed the UN General Assembly in New York, where he condemned the United Nations as “useless” and warned that Argentina would “take matters into our own hands” over the Falklands sovereignty dispute.
“The clear position is: we will stand firm in the face of any threats,” Burnham said. “We will defend the right of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination and to remain British. I just wanted the president to know directly from me, that’s the clear British position, and he very much understood what I was saying.”
In his General Assembly address, Milei accused the UN of looking the other way on the status of the South Atlantic territory, which Argentina calls the Malvinas. He said his government was willing to act unilaterally over recent oil exploration near the islands.
“An organisation that set out to defend the territorial sovereignty of its members decided to look the other way regarding the situation of the Falkland Islands,” Milei said of the UN. “Argentina is not going to sit around waiting for the UN and the international community to live up to their own mandate,” he told the assembly. “We’re going to take matters into our own hands.”
Milei directed particular criticism at the Sea Lion project, a major offshore oil development in the North Falkland Basin, describing exploitation of the territory’s resources as an “unlawful act.” He told the assembly that Argentina would “not remain indifferent to those who exploit resources under illegal foreign occupation.” The Falkland Islands government had approved the field development and production plans for the project, a joint venture between an Israel-based energy company and a London-listed oil and gas exploration company.
Argentina has accused the UK of flouting a 1976 UN resolution ordering both parties to desist from unilateral action on the islands. Milei’s government began sanctions proceedings this month against more than 60 companies and people linked to the oil drilling project.
The UN does not officially recognize either British or Argentine sovereignty and maintains that the archipelago’s status remains a disputed matter that must be resolved through bilateral negotiations. The UN has repeatedly invited both governments to find a peaceful solution to the dispute that erupted into conflict in 1982 after an invasion by Argentine forces. The 74-day conflict ended with the surrender of the Argentine forces and cost the lives of 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and 3 Falkland Islanders.
“For us, the Malvinas are a national cause,” Milei told the general assembly, describing the UN as “a useless organisation whose only purpose is to sustain a cast of faintly arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats.” “That’s why the Malvinas are not merely an issue between Argentina and the United Kingdom,” he said. “They also raise a question regarding the ability of this organisation to enforce its own resolutions.”
A referendum on the political status of the archipelago was held in the Falkland Islands in 2013. On a turnout of 92%, 99.8% voted to remain a British territory, with only three votes against. Milei told UN delegates that the principle of self-determination should not apply to the islands, arguing that “the population was implanted by the occupying power on a territory whose sovereignty is in dispute.” He called on the United Kingdom “to resume negotiations with a view to finding a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute as required by international law.”
Last month, US President Donald Trump said he was reviewing the United States’ neutral position on the Falklands. The issue was a topic of discussion this week in Burnham’s first meeting with Trump.