FOREIGN Secretary David Cameron will meet Argentina’s new president Javier Milei today for a summit in Switzerland.
It comes after the newly-elected leader insisted he believed the Falkland Islands, a self-governing overseas British territory, belong to Argentina.
PADavid Cameron will meet Argentina’s new president Javier Milei in Switzerland today[/caption]
APJavier Milei was elected president in December 2023[/caption]
Right-wing Milei said it was time to “get the Falklands back” in November last year, just weeks before he was made Argentina’s new president in a landslide victory.
Downing Street insisted the Falkland Islands would remain British despite the president-elect’s threats.
Argentina’s foreign minister Diana Mondino is also set to join Cameron and Milei at the The World Economic Forum summit in Davos, Switzerland.
It is not yet clear whether the Falkland Islands will be on the agenda -but if it is it could lead to tense discussions given the current backdrop of international conflict.
Argentina’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement following Milei’s landslide victory in the nation’s November election that its claim to the islands constituted a “permanent and unwaverable objective.”
But he added at the time that the islanders living there must have a say in their future.
Sunak said: “It’s obviously a settled issue, a long-settled issue, and we have no plans to revisit it.”
And Defence Secretary Grant Shapps went on to rebuke any notion of negotiations with Argentina by saying: “The Falkland Islands are British.
“That is non-negotiable and undeniable.”
An Argentinian presidential spokesman confirmed yesterday the meeting would take place.
It was initially thought to have been scheduled only between Foreign Secretary Cameron and Milei.
Argentinian outlet Clarin said Cameron asked Milei for the meeting in a WhatsApp message he sent him as he was on his way to Davos.
And rival paper La Nacion claimed the Falklands issue would be “on the table” along with the economy.
Lord Admiral West, 75, believes there is no concern of an Argentine military invasion on the Falkland Islands but warned that “stranger things have happened”.
And a former Royal Navy chief said threats of a new Falklands war shouldn’t be ignored.
Downing Street confirmed late last week that Sunak would not be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos for the second year in a row.
Cameron met former Argentinian president Mauricio Macri at the summit in 2016 when he was still Prime Minister.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken appeared at the summit on Wednesday and spoke about the current conflicts unfolding around the globe.
He said the Middle East provides a “profound and gut-wrenching challenge” to current foreign affairs.
The Falkland Islands is a British overseas territory located off the coast of ArgentinaAlamy
PACameron reportedly asked Milei for the meeting in a WhatsApp message[/caption]