Argentina threatens UK court action over Falklands oil project

Argentine President Javier Milei has given Britain two weeks to halt work on an oil project near the Falkland Islands or face a legal challenge at an international maritime court, escalating a dispute over the British-administered territory that Argentina claims as its own.

In a social media post, Milei said he had instructed Argentina’s Foreign Ministry and legal teams to pursue international arbitration if work on the Sea Lion project did not stop. He described the project as “the illegal plundering of our resources” and said Argentina would bring the matter before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea if what he called the “illegitimate exploitation” continued. Al Jazeera reported that Milei issued the ultimatum on Monday evening and said, “Argentina will not stand idly by.”

Sea Lion lies about 130 miles (209 kilometers) from the Falkland Islands and contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil, according to the BBC. Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration and Israel’s Navitas Petroleum are due to begin extracting oil from the field within two years, the BBC reported. The companies say they hold valid licences for the project.

Milei said Argentina would ask the tribunal, based in Hamburg, Germany, to order a halt to the work. The court was established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It can issue legally binding emergency orders but has no means of forcing a government to comply, according to Al Jazeera.

Argentina has already taken legal action against the project, Al Jazeera reported. Milei’s administration argues that the work violates a UN resolution calling on Britain and Argentina to refrain from unilateral actions in the islands while their sovereignty dispute remains unresolved. The British government has said it stands behind businesses operating near the Falklands, Al Jazeera reported.

Britain rejects Argentina’s claim to the islands, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas. It says the islanders have the right to decide their future and develop their natural resources. Argentina says the islands were populated illegally. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% of residents voted to remain a British overseas territory; three voted against.

The latest threat follows Milei’s criticism of the UN over the sovereignty dispute. At the General Assembly, he called it “a useless organisation” serving “arrogant parasites dressed up as well-intentioned bureaucrats,” the BBC reported. The BBC also reported that British Defence Secretary Wes Streeting subsequently said Argentina “lacks the ability” to seize the islands by force.

Argentine forces invaded the Falklands in 1982, and a British military task force retook them in a 74-day war. The conflict killed 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three islanders.