Andy Burnham calls Argentine claim on Malvinas ‘a threat’ in UN speech

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Tuesday in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly that the United Kingdom would “stand firm in the face of any threats,” including those challenging the “rights of British territories to remain British, such as the Falkland Islands.”

Framing his points as a defense of “the UN charter and the rule of law,” Burnham included the Argentine claim to the Malvinas Islands among the “threats and challenges” to them.

Most of Burnham’s speech focused on countering state-backed disinformation, establishing artificial intelligence (AI) safety standards, and advancing multilateral diplomacy, and urged world governments rather than private tech firms.

He also reaffirmed the U.K.’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), continued military and infrastructure support for Ukraine, and a two-state solution in the Middle East, condemning Israeli settlement expansions while maintaining opposition to Hamas and Iranian aggression.

Meeting with Trump Before his speech, the British Prime Minister said he also discussed the issue of the islands’ sovereignty with United States President Donald Trump in a bilateral meeting they held earlier in the day.

“We will defend the right of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination and to remain British,” Burnham told reporters after the meeting. “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 late August, Trump said that he may “review” the U.S.’s position on the sovereignty dispute over the Malvinas Islands.

The U.S. has not endorsed either Argentina’s or Britain’s claim to ultimate sovereignty over the archipelago, but Washington formally acknowledges that the U.K. administers the islands in practice.

Quirno’s response Speaking at the UN, Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno issued a response to Burnham’s comments on the Malvinas Islands, where he reiterated Argentina’s claim to the islands.

“I wish to remind this assembly that the Malvinas, South Georgia, and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas are an integral part of Argentine national territory,” he said.

Quirno rejected the notion that the U.K. holds sovereign rights over the archipelagos and surrounding maritime areas, pointing out that “the British occupation of the territory dates back to 1833, when United Kingdom forces occupied the Malvinas Islands, violating the country’s territorial integrity and expelling legitimately established Argentine authorities and residents.”

He also insisted that the sovereignty dispute is formally recognized within the United Nations system, which has called upon “the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations in order to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the dispute as the means to decolonize the territory.”

Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falkland Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands.