President Javier Milei met today with British Chancellor David Cameron in a small room at the Davos Economic Forum. The meeting lasted 20 minutes, and alongside the president were Chancellor Diana Mondino and the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Milei .
The meeting was scheduled for 1:00 p.m. in Davos (9:00 a.m. in Argentina), and 20 minutes before the head of state appeared along with the Secretary General and Gerardo Werthein , designated ambassador to the United States. The three waited for the meeting in a small room in the first floor of the Forum until the arrival of Cameron and his delegation.
Down another hallway on the same floor, Britain's Foreign Secretary arrived at the event when the clock showed 12:45. And in keeping with the rules of formal diplomacy, when the clocks struck 13 o'clock in Switzerland, Cameron entered another room - a little larger - waiting for the president of Argentina.
Milei entered the conclave with her best smile and greeted the British Chancellor. There was a relaxed atmosphere, and the doors were closed after the official photos. Inside, a new chapter of the complex bilateral relations between Argentina and the United Kingdom was being written.
Moments after the meeting, the head of state spoke with Infobae and gave details of the talk he had with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain.
-How was the meeting with the British Foreign Minister?
-It was an excellent meeting, very cordial, and we basically talked about deepening commercial ties, the support that they are going to give us in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and also how to promote English investments in Argentina
-Did you discuss the issue of the Malvinas Islands and the perspective of resolving it through the Hong Kong model with China and England?
-We are not making in-depth progress, but we have set it as a point on an agenda where our Chancellor, Diana Mondino, and Minister Cameron will move forward in finding a solution to the issue.
-Is it possible for you to visit London?
-The topic was not mentioned at the meeting.
The president and the English chancellor met by telephone at the beginning of December, and the personal relationship was consolidated when they found a common musical taste: they both vibrate with the Rolling Stones and are fans of Mick Jagger.
Milei met last night with Diana Mondino to decide whether he would participate in the bilateral meeting that - in principle - was scheduled for the chancellor and the person in charge of the Foreign Office. In the end, the head of state decided to join the conclave at the Economic Forum, to raise his disruptive look at sovereignty in the Malvinas, which he considers non-negotiable.
Unlike other leaders - from Raúl Alfonsín to Alberto Fernández -, Milei does not exclude from the geopolitical equation the existence of the islanders who occupy the South Atlantic islands that belong to Argentina. In this context, the president proposes a similar solution to the agreement negotiated by England with China regarding Hong Kong.
"We want to find a feasible solution regarding the Malvinas Islands. England had a conflict similar to this: it was with China and in the case of Hong Kong. We propose a similar solution, where England returns the Islands to us through diplomatic channels. But in this process, you cannot leave aside what happens with those who live in the Islands. That is, you have to find a solution not only with England, but you also have to consider the interests of those who live in the Islands. Islands,” Milei had argued during the election campaign.
This diplomatic strategy of the head of state has a structural problem: Great Britain was interested in the bilateral relationship with Beijing, and drew up a roadmap that extended for decades while China grew globally.
Argentina, on the other hand, is a latent threat to London because it habitually fails to fulfill its commitments and does not report major collateral benefits. At the Foreign Office they have already heard proposals from Dante Caputo to Santiago Cafiero, and now they will insist on their diplomatic caution, although Milei and Cameron share the hits of the Stones.
In this sense, Milei and Mondino believe that an active and continuous commercial agenda between both countries can build a diplomatic resource that allows negotiating the recovery of the South Atlantic Islands. It would not be a tactic of appeasement with London, but rather finding new negotiation scenarios to reach the same result.
This is what the United Kingdom did with China. And in the end, Hong Kong returned - with certain limitations - to Beijing's control.
In addition to the Malvinas situation, Milei and Cameron analyzed the trade relations between both countries. The adjustment program is watched with interest from London due to the possibility of multiplying British investments in Argentina. This is a key objective of the head of state, and that is why he also decided to join the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
British support for the IMF
Finally, the president and the chancellor discussed Argentina's negotiation with the IMF. There is already an agreement with the Fund staff, but the approval of the board is still necessary to access the disbursement of 4.7 billion dollars that will allow the country to comply with the maturities of January, February and April.
Cameron told Milei that the director of the United Kingdom will vote in favor of Argentina. The president thanked the British minister for the gesture of confidence. All the support of the G7 adds up to the moment of getting the IMF board to approve the Staff Level Agreement (SLA). ) agreed two weeks ago with Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF.
When the agenda, which was open, was exhausted, Milei and Cameron shook hands and smiled in unison.There remained a mutual commitment to deepen diplomatic ties and the commercial relationship between Argentina and Great Britain.
In this sense, Cameron used his official account on X (exTwitter) to take stock of the meeting he shared with the Argentine president.
