Argentina’s government has issued a statement condemning the “breakdown of consensus” that usually governs the Group of 20 nations, adding it does not endorse the final communiqué issued this weekend in Johannesburg.
In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry, President Javier Milei’s government said it had decided not to endorse the final document agreed during the G20 summit hosted by South Africa. It based its diplomatic decision on two main areas of criticism: the alleged violation of the consensus rule that governs the forum and substantive differences in positions over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, who led Argentina’s delegation in the absence of President Milei, had already signalled the government’s position during the plenary session in Johannesburg.
Quirno said the delegation was “deeply concerned” by certain geopolitical elements in the draft text and warned publicly that “Argentina will not sign” the declaration. He added that the country had identified “red lines” intended to support the G20’s wider objectives, stressing that these remained in force.
The Foreign Ministry accused the summit’s procedure of omitting a core rule of the G20. Buenos Aires said it regretted that the final communique was approved “without the consensus of all members of the forum, including Argentina, among others.”
For Argentina, “it is essential to preserve the consensus rule as the basis for the legitimacy of the G20, whose main mandate is the global coordination of actions aimed at financial stability and economic growth,” the statement continued.
The text’s geopolitical content also came into focus. Regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Argentina distanced itself from the approach reflected in the document, which it considered “partial.”
Quirno said the text reduced the conflict “to a single dimension of a specific territory,” overlooking the broader regional context, the international recognition of various entities and the structural causes that Argentina considers indispensable for progress towards a “genuine, sustainable and balanced” peace process.
The South African Presidency of the G20 said the communiqué had been approved by an “overwhelming majority,” though it did not specify which nations supported the text.
Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for the South African President, told the EFE news agency it was “surprising” that Argentina was not present when negotiators had already reached an accord and only the leaders’ formal approval remained.
The summit unfolded amid the absence of several key figures, including US President Donald Trump, who boycotted the meeting, and the leaders of China, Russia and Mexico.
Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has reorientated Argentina’s foreign policy in favour of the United States and Israel, two nations that the head of state describes as his “pillars.”
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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