Keir Starmer ‘will be forced to hand over Falkland Islands to Argentina’

The British people want discussions with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, and those living in the “usurped” territory would accept a handover, a top politician has claimed. Daniel Filmus was the secretary for the affairs concerning the Malvinas – his country’s name for the archipelago – between 2014 and 2015, and later from 2019 until 2021. Speaking to The Express in Buenos Aires via an interpreter he insisted: “The British people want a dialogue about the Malvinas.”

When asked why he thinks this, the former senator claimed that surveys have suggested that 95% of the Argentine people uphold sovereignty claims, and there is a great degree of ignorance of this in Britain, as well as a willingness to engage in dialogue. “All the polls show a willingness to engage in dialogue,” Mr Filums said.

He was involved in many meetings with MPs and members from the House of Lords, who “agreed to initiate dialogue”, the former senator claimed. “There is a global outcry, and I insist that if it is a government that listens to its people, it does not want to be an imperial people, it does not want to be a people that is subjugating other regions of the world,” Mr Filmus said.

It comes after Falkland Islanders told The Express that they would fight to remain British.

Mr Filmus insisted that there would be no trouble made by the islanders were Argentina to take control of the territory.

He added: “I think that, especially knowing the spirit of those who live there, they would be very happy to be world football champions.”

It is not an issue of the islanders, the academic said, but one between the UK and Argentina.

Argentina has “great respect for the population living on the islands”, Mr Filmus added, and they have “every right in the world” to remain British, as thousands of people from the UK live in the South American country already.

He suggested that “more than half” of the Falkland Islands’ inhabitants are “not British” and come from other places, such as other Atlantic islands, Chile and the Philippines.

Census data from 2021 suggested 1,530 residents were born in the islands, and 1,898 were classed as “foreign born”.

Of those, 749 were born in the UK, 369 in St Helena, 178 in Philippines, 168 in Chile, and 434 from other countries.

When asked if he was encouraged by Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt to give away the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, he suggested that the British government has no choice but to give them up.

“Just as will happen in due course with the Malvinas,” Mr Filmus suggested, predicting that the International Court of Justice, the European Union, the United Nations will practically isolate London.

Mr Filmus claimed that Britain transitioned from an empire to the Commonwealth according to designs set forth by the UN, also referring to resolution 2065, from 1965, which “clearly stated that there is a territorial dispute” over the Falkland Islands that “needs to be discussed between the two countries”.

He added that there are 17 “Non-Self-Governing Territories” that the UN describes as places “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government”, including the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar.

“We call on the British government to listen to the demands of the international community,” Mr Filmus said, claiming that this includes Organisation of American States (OAS) and the the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), African states, Asian countries, the G20, China and the EU, which “also recognises that this dispute exists”.

“So we think it’s a good time for each of us to start the dialogue, and to put forward what proposals we have,” he added.

But not all Argentinians hold this belief.

Professor Vicente Palermo, a senior researcher at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), argues that what he has dubbed the “Causa Malvinas” has become an “imaginary prison” for Argentine identity.

He said: “It seems to me that Daniel, whom I know quite well, ignores, or pretends to ignore, that the weight of the difference in the United Nations has decreased a lot in recent decades, especially after the war, and Argentina’s position lost ground.”

He described the multinational organisation as a changed chessboard, insisting that the “best moment” for Argentine diplomacy was resolution 2065.

Post-1982, the country’s governments have become “deluded” about being able to regain sovereignty over the Malvinas, Professor Palermo added.

“The correlation of diplomatic forces in the United Nations changed unfavourably for Argentina,” he said.

The international community perceived that islanders are British “but this is kind of difficult”, and they should “leave it for later”, the expert said.

He added: “The truth is, Argentina lost ground.”

The British would reject any proceedings at the ICJ, he added, which need at least two participants.

In theory, the Argentines could ask the UN to assist, but it will not as the country is “scared of losing”, Professor Palermo said.

“We have all the patience in the world,” Mr Filmus said.

“There is no other way than through diplomacy.”

The former senator referred to negotiations between Buenos Aires and London over the territory in the 1970s, during which it is understood that Lord Carrington, Margaret Thatcher’s Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982, favoured a “leaseback” scheme, whereby Britain would cede sovereignty to Argentina.

In return, the UK would continue to administer the islands on behalf of the settlers.

“I had those proposals in my own hands,” Mr Filmus said.

“The goal is to recover the possibility of dialogue.”

Pre-1982 relations would return, including regular flights and more trade connections, “with the beginning of the restoration of the exercise of sovereignty towards Argentina”, the politician said.

He emphasised that the military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri was not the custodian of the people’s sovereignty when it invaded the Falklands in 1982, with dialogue having been the policy of all democratically elected Argentine governments.

The country’s current President, Javier Milei, has insisted that he is not seeking another conflict with Britain, and is aiming to achieve a peaceful transfer of the islands similar to that of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Mr Filmus said this stance will “never change”.

He added: “We already suffered what it meant to have lost many British and Argentine lives in the Malvinas.

“We are not willing to lose another life… we need to sit down and talk.”

“I’m sure that sooner or later our Argentine flag will fly again,” Mr Filmus said.

“We owe it to them.

“It is also a commitment that we owe it to the Argentinians who gave their lives fighting heroically, even in the difficult conditions.”

Sir Keir said in his Christmas message to the Falkland Islands: “I’m proud of the bond that we share as one great British family.

“And I’m proud of the strong sense of community that unites us all. I know that is a big part of who you are on the Falkland Islands.”

He also pledged his “deep and enduring commitment to your right to self-determination and your democratic rights”.

The Prime Minister added: “These are rights that my own uncle fought for when he served aboard HMS Antelope in 1982.”