DAVID Cameron will fly to the Falkland Islands to show Britain’s continuing support for the overseas territory.
This week’s trip – the first by a Foreign Secretary in six years – will see the former PM arrive as part of a tour of the South Atlantic, South America and New York.
It will include a meeting with members of the Falkland Islands Government, and a visit to various parts of Overseas Territory to see how islanders work to build a thriving community and protect their natural environment.
The Foreign Secretary will also spend time with some of the 1,500 British soldiers and aviators who help to protect the islands from invasion. And he will pay his respects for the 255 British lives lost during the war to retake the islands following Argentina’s illegal seizure in 1982.
The visit was first muted in October by then Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who experienced tensions with former president Alberto Fernandez after Argentina pulled out of a cooperation deal.
Relations have improved, however, following the election of Argentina’s new maverick President Javier Milei.
It is less than a month since Lord Cameron exchanged warm words with President Milei, when the pair met at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.
Though both “agreed to disagree” over the provenance of the islands, Britain is treating President Mile’s tenure with optimism.
Unlike left-wing predecessor President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, with whom Cameron was PM shared a fractious relationship, Milei heads one of the few right-wing governments in South America.
He is also no supporter of China, having withdrawn Argentina from negotiations to join Brics, the group of countries which includes China, Brazil, Russia, India, and Iran, and vowing during his campaign that Argentina would “not align itself with Communists”.
The UK plans to offer Argentina favourable trade deals in the hope that helping Milei to crack his seemingly insurmountable £370bn debt mountain will ease pressure over the islands too.
In a 2013 referendum, Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to retain their status as a self-governing UK Overseas Territory.
In 2018 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson became the first foreign secretary to visit the islands for 25 years.
Speaking last night Lord Cameron said: “The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family, and we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family, the issue of sovereignty will not be up for discussion.
“The Falkland Islanders should be proud of the modern, prosperous community they have built. The Islands are a thriving economy, where as well as farming and fishing, there is a priority given to conservation and sustainability.”
He will then become the first UK Foreign Secretary to ever visit Paraguay, in a move thought to be aimed at restarting talks on securing a suitable alternative to Rwanda where UK asylum-seekers can be legally and safely processed.
After that, he is due to go on to the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brazil where he will discuss G20 agendas on tackling hunger and climate change and work with partners to advance efforts towards peace in the Middle East and support for Ukraine.
Lastly, he will head to New York for the UN ahead of the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale illegal invasion of Ukraine.
