Quirno exercised the right of reply at the UN and responded to Burnham: “The Falklands are Argentine”

The Argentine claim of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, and the surrounding maritime areas was at the center of a diplomatic exchange at the United Nations General Assembly, after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham expressly mentioned the issue during his speech and Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno exercised the right of reply to respond.

Burnham included the Falkland Islands among the territories over which London asserted it would remain “firm” in the face of any “threat” or “challenge,” defending the British position on the archipelago.

This reference subsequently enabled Argentina's right of reply. From the General Assembly, Quirno recalled that “the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands, along with the surrounding maritime areas, are an integral part of Argentine national territory” and explained why they are illegally occupied by the United Kingdom.

The historic intervention of Pablo Quirno

In his intervention, the foreign minister reviewed the origin of the dispute and questioned the British presence in the Islands. “The illegal British occupation of the islands dates back to January 1833”, Quirno stated, recalling that British forces occupied the Falklands, “violating the territorial integrity of our country and expelling the authorities and the legitimately established Argentine population.”

The foreign minister noted that those authorities and inhabitants were “replaced by British subjects”, a situation that Argentina has never recognized and against which it has maintained diplomatic protests since then.

Quirno also recalled Resolution 2065 of the General Assembly, which recognizes the existence of a sovereignty dispute and urges Argentina and the United Kingdom to negotiate a peaceful solution. “Argentina reiterates its full willingness to resume substantive bilateral negotiations with the United Kingdom in accordance with Resolution 2065”, he expressed.

The claim regarding the illegal unilateral actions of the United Kingdom

The foreign minister also dedicated part of his reply to questioning the decisions unilaterally adopted by London while the controversy remains unresolved. Quirno recalled Resolution 31/49, which will mark its 50th anniversary, urging both parties to refrain from making unilateral changes while the dispute remains unresolved.

In this context, he demanded that the United Kingdom “fulfill its obligations regarding decolonization and immediately cease its violations of international law”.

The intervention concluded with an explicit reaffirmation of the Argentine position on the archipelago. “The Argentine Republic reaffirms its legitimate rights of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands, along with the surrounding maritime areas”, Quirno stated.

The Argentine foreign minister chose to close his intervention with a phrase that has become a banner of the administration of Javier Milei: “By history and by right: the Falklands are Argentine”.