Argentina has given the United Kingdom two weeks to stop work on an oil development near the disputed Falkland Islands, warning that it will seek international legal intervention if the project continues.
President Javier Milei said Argentina would approach the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea if Britain fails to halt the Sea Lion oil project. He accused the UK of exploiting resources that Argentina considers its own and said Buenos Aires would not allow what he described as irreversible damage to its interests.
The project is being developed by Israeli company Navitas Petroleum and British firm Rockhopper Exploration. Both companies have maintained that their activities are covered by valid exploration and production licences issued by the Falkland Islands authorities.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, has the authority to issue legally binding emergency measures in certain disputes. However, any order against the UK would face questions over enforcement.
Argentina and Britain remain divided over sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, which Argentina calls the Malvinas. The UK maintains that the islanders have the right to determine their own political future and to benefit from the territory’s natural resources.
In a 2013 referendum, Falkland Islanders overwhelmingly voted to remain a British overseas territory. Argentina disputes the legitimacy of British control and maintains its claim to sovereignty over the islands.
Milei’s government has already pursued legal measures against activities connected to the oil project, arguing that unilateral exploitation of resources violates United Nations resolutions calling on both countries to refrain from actions that could complicate efforts to resolve the sovereignty dispute.
The disagreement comes more than four decades after Argentina and Britain went to war over the islands in 1982. The conflict began after Argentine forces invaded the territory and resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentine and 255 British service members, as well as three Falkland Islanders.
