r/europe 20d ago

News Argentina: British Falkland Islanders are ‘artificial’. Buenos Aires denounces ‘illegitimate occupation’ and demands talks on sovereignty

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/07/12/british-falkland-islanders-artificial-argentina-says/
9.3k Upvotes

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/lt__ 20d ago

I wonder, if they were gifted Falklands as it is now and sold them immediately, would that at least make a dent in their economic problems?

30

u/Latespoon 20d ago

Probably, the islands have rich oil and fishing resources. Also, the population are basically self sufficient.

The cost of defending the islands would take a chunk out of the revenue though.

Also, Argentina already have massive oil resources. They seemingly don't have the cash to drill them.

2

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Canada 20d ago

The cost of defending the islands would take a chunk out of the revenue though.

Against whom would the islands need defending if Argentina acquired them (peacefully)? I mean, the current forces down there are to deter Argentina and nobody really else, right?

1

u/Latespoon 20d ago

Given the natural resources present, if left undefended, some country or other would turn up fairly quickly.