Argentina’s Milei threatens to sue UK over Falkland Islands oil project

Argentina's President Javier Milei threatened Monday to sue the United Kingdom over an oil project near the Falkland Islands, the British-administered territory over which Buenos Aires claims sovereignty.

Britain and Argentina fought a brief but bitter 10-week war in 1982 over the South Atlantic islands, known to Argentines as Las Malvinas, with 255 British troops and 649 Argentines killed during the conflict.

The companies developing a major oil field off the Falklands, Israel's Navitas and Britain's Rockhopper, have shrugged off Argentina's threats, insisting they have valid exploration licenses issued by the United Kingdom. The project is called Sea Lion.

"I instructed the Foreign Ministry and our legal teams to initiate arbitration proceedings against the United Kingdom for the illegal sacking of our resources through the Sea Lion Project in the North Falklands Basin," Milei said in a post on X.

The Sea Lion oil field is located around 220 kilometers (137 miles) from the islands.

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"If within two weeks the United Kingdom does not stop the illegitimate exploitation, we will go to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea," the libertarian president continued.

Milei's administration has already taken legal action against the project authorized by Britain, arguing it violates a UN resolution calling for both sides to desist from unilateral actions in the islands until their dispute is resolved. 

Buenos Aires has doubled down on its claim over the Falklands since US President Donald Trump said that Washington was open to reviewing its historically neutral stance on the territory.

The British government for its part has said it stands behind the businesses operating near the Falklands, arguing it had the "right to develop their natural resources as they see fit."

Falkland business representatives on Monday also arrived in Punta Arenas, Chile, to relaunch a maritime route between the two ports. 

Louise Ellis, deputy director of economic development in the Falklands, told AFP in Punto Arenas that the new shipping route "has absolutely no" relation to the transportation of critical cargo needed for the Sea Lion project. 

"This project (for a new route) began before (Sea Lion) and has always had to do with what the Falkland Islands and our communities need now," she said. 

The route, which aims to open later this year and had ended in the 2000s after being deemed unfeasible, will mainly involve the transport of construction materials and fresh products like food and beverages.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)