The leader of the opposition and top leader of the 'tories' in the United Kingdom, Kemi Badenoch, has stated that the claim of the Malvinas Islands —Falklands in English— by the Argentine president, Javier Milei, highlights a "weakness" of Argentina, which in her opinion does not behave like "a strong country".
"Javier Milei is wrong. The Falklands are British. As long as the inhabitants of the Falklands want to be British, the Falklands will be British," Badenoch declared in statements broadcast by Sky News, thus maintaining the same position as the current Labour government of Andy Burnham.
The leader of the Conservative Party has distanced herself from Milei, whom she accuses of resorting to the issue of the Malvinas Islands to stir up the Argentine political scene. The archipelago, whose sovereignty is disputed by both countries, was the trigger for the ten-week war fought in 1982 after the landing of Argentine forces on the islands.
"I admire Javier Milei less and less because he wants to resort to threats against the United Kingdom to resolve his internal problems. That is not what a strong country does. That is what a weak country does," Badenoch reiterated, insisting that the Argentine president's approach responds to domestic political calculations.
The British government, for its part, has reacted strongly to emphasize that the Malvinas Islands "are British" and to reaffirm that its commitment to the territory is "absolute and unbreakable." These statements come after Milei spoke of "favorable winds of change" in the dispute and announced sanctions against oil companies operating in the area without authorization from Buenos Aires.
"Milei's statement last night says more about Argentina's internal politics than about the Falkland Islands," noted British Defense Minister Wes Streeting, using the name used by London for the archipelago.