Argentine President Javier Milei has warned that his country will pursue legal action against the United Kingdom if London does not suspend oil exploration and extraction activities off the coast of the Falkland Islands.
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In a message posted on social media, Milei gave the British government two weeks to abandon the “Sea Lion” project, which is being developed by a partnership between British and Israeli companies.
According to the Argentine president, if the demand is not met within that time frame, he has ordered the Department of State and legal teams to begin international arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom. Milei accused London of “illegally plundering our resources through the Sea Lion project.”
He added that if what he described as the area’s “illegal exploitation” is not halted, Argentina will turn to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, based in Hamburg.
Meanwhile, the companies involved in the project say they are operating on the basis of valid licenses approved by the British authorities, the BBC reported.
The reserves of the Sea Lion field, located around 200 kilometers from the Falkland Islands, are estimated at approximately 1.7 billion barrels of oil. UK-based Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum plan to begin drilling in the area within two years.
This new diplomatic clash comes at a time when disputes between Argentina and Britain over the sovereignty and status of the Falkland Islands have deepened. More than 40 years have passed since the 1982 war, when British forces repelled Argentina’s invasion of the archipelago.
In a speech last week to the UN General Assembly, Milei sharply criticized the United Nations. He called the organization “useless” and accused some of its officials of serving “arrogant parasites disguised as bureaucrats with good intentions.”
British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting responded to Milei’s statements by saying that Argentina “does not have the capability” to invade the islands by force.
Residents of the Falkland Islands expressed clear support for maintaining the territory’s status as a British overseas territory in a 2013 referendum. In that vote, 99.8% voted in favor, while only three people voted against.
