Wire flash
Argentina's President Milei threatens legal action against UK over Falkland Islands oil exploration
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Source reporting is collected, normalized, translated or condensed automatically when needed.
- Automatically published source-backed update
Argentina's President Javier Milei has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the British government unless it halts oil exploration off the Falkland Islands. In a social media post, Milei set a two-week deadline for the Sea Lion oilfield project, a joint venture between Israeli and British companies, to be scrapped. He instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration against the UK over what he called 'the illegal plundering of our resources' and warned that if the exploitation did not end, Argentina would take the matter to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The Sea Lion oilfield, located about 130 miles from the Falklands, contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil. The companies involved, Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum, insist they hold valid licences issued by the Falkland Islands. The move follows Milei's recent criticism of the UN for failing to act on the sovereignty issue. The UK Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting, stated that Argentina 'lacks the ability' to retake the islands by force. The dispute dates back to the 1982 Falklands War, after which a 2013 referendum saw 99.8% of islanders vote to remain a British overseas territory.
Source report
By Will Grant BBC Mexico, Central America and Cuba correspondent
Argentina's president has threatened to launch a legal challenge against the British government unless it halts oil exploration work off the coast of the Falkland Islands.
In a social media post, President Javier Milei set a two-week deadline for the Sea Lion oilfield project — a joint venture between Israeli and British companies — to be scrapped. The companies insist they hold valid licences issued by Britain.
The comments heighten tensions between the UK and Argentina over the sovereignty of the archipelago, known in Argentina as Las Malvinas, more than 40 years after a British military task force ejected Argentine forces that had invaded the territory in 1982.
Milei said that if the two-week deadline was not met, he had "instructed the Foreign Ministry and legal teams to initiate international arbitration" against the UK over what he called "the illegal plundering of our resources through the Sea Lion Project."
He further warned the UK that if the "illegitimate exploitation" of the region did not end within two weeks, Argentina would take the matter before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea — an independent judicial body based in Hamburg responsible for the fair application of the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The move comes soon after Milei roundly criticised the UN in his speech at the General Assembly for failing to act over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. He said the UN had become "a useless organisation" which only serves "arrogant parasites dressed up as well-intentioned bureaucrats."
Since then, UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said that Argentina "lacks the ability" to take back the Falklands by force. Milei had previously described the Sea Lion oilfield as a "clear and present danger."
Key Facts
- Sea Lion oilfield: Located approximately 130 miles (209 km) from the Falkland Islands, it contains an estimated 1.7 billion barrels of oil.
- Companies involved: Britain's Rockhopper Exploration and Israel's Navitas Petroleum are due to begin extraction within two years. Both companies have stressed that Sea Lion holds valid licences from the Falkland Islands.
- 2013 referendum: Residents of the islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory — with 99.8% in favour and just three votes against.
- 1982 conflict: Argentine forces landed on the Falklands to stake a territorial claim, sparking a 74-day war. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 255 British military personnel, three islanders, and 649 Argentine military personnel.
Related Topics
- Falkland Islands
- Argentina
Source
BBC NewsWestern
Part of this Story
Argentina threatens legal action, sanctions over UK-backed Falklands oil drilling