{"id":689630,"date":"2026-07-13T17:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/689630\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T17:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T17:12:21","slug":"starmer-hits-back-at-argentina-over-ministers-falklands-remark-ahead-of-crunch-world-cup-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/689630\/","title":{"rendered":"Starmer hits back at Argentina over minister\u2019s Falklands remark ahead of crunch World Cup match"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Downing Street has hit back at remarks made by Argentina<\/a>\u2019s foreign minister over the Falkland Islands just days before the World Cup semi-final<\/a>.<\/p>\n

England<\/a> took a stride closer to the final with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Norway<\/a> in extra time on Saturday night, and will now face Argentina on Wednesday in a fixture rich in history.<\/p>\n

But Downing Street has been forced to slap down comments made by Pablo Quirno in the days before the game, after he claimed Falklands Islanders<\/a> were an \u201cartificially implanted\u201d population.<\/p>\n

Britain and Argentina fought a brief war in 1982 over the islands, which are administered by the UK but are still claimed by Argentina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Falkland Islands have previously voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory (PA) (PA Media)<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s foreign minister called on his country not to \u201cfall into the referendum trap\u201d as he claimed the 2013 vote was effectively illegitimate.<\/p>\n

Insisting the population of the Falklands<\/a> were \u201cartificially implanted by the occupying power\u201d, he wrote in La Nacion: \u201cFor this reason, no referendum organised unilaterally by the United Kingdom can have legal effect on a controversy whose resolution belongs exclusively to Argentina and the United Kingdom through negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also wrote that the islands are a \u201cspecial and particular colonial situation, originating in the violation of Argentina’s territorial integrity\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"PabloPablo Quirno (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cTime does not transform an illegitimate occupation into sovereignty. Nor will it divide the territorial unity of the Argentine Republic,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Downing Street flatly rejected his claims, saying the Falkland islanders are \u201cBritish with a right to determine their own future\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked about Mr Quirno\u2019s comments, the prime minister\u2019s official spokesman said: \u201cWell, no.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EnglandEngland will face Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday after their 2-1 victory against Norway last week. (Getty)<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe UK\u2019s position is clear. The islanders have repeatedly expressed their wish to remain a British overseas territory, and their right to self-determination is paramount.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2013, the people of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a UK overseas territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Buenos Aires has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and was defeated in a short but bloody war after mounting an invasion in 1982, the shadow of which hangs over UK-Argentine relations to this day.<\/p>\n

Some 650 Argentine soldiers and 255 British troops died before Argentina surrendered.<\/p>\n

England will face Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday after their 2-1 victory against Norway last week.<\/p>\n

Asked whether the intervention was extremely unhelpful, the spokesman said Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s focus was on the football, and in response to chants from Argentine fans, the official said: \u201cI think I think the Prime Minister\u2019s view is that football should be about a game and about bringing people together. That\u2019s what fans want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":689631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,11237,50,1351,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-689630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-horizontal","tag-news","tag-security","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=689630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/689630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/689631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=689630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=689630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=689630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}