Argentina has threatened to take Britain to an international maritime tribunal unless work stops on an offshore oil project near the Falkland Islands.
President Javier Milei’s government has given the UK two weeks to halt development of the Sea Lion field, which is being pursued by Israel’s Navitas Petroleum and England’s Rockhopper Exploration.
If the deadline passes, Argentina says it will ask the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg to impose an emergency order suspending the project.
A statement from Mr Milei’s office accused Britain of causing “irreversible and irreparable” damage, adding: “Argentina will not stand idly by.”
The tribunal was created under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and can issue legally binding interim orders. However, it has no mechanism to compel a government to comply with such an order.
Britain rejects Argentina’s claim to sovereignty over the islands. The UK maintains that Falkland Islanders have the right to decide their own future and to develop the territory’s natural resources.
Residents voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory in a 2013 referendum. Argentina disputes the legitimacy of the population, saying the islands were settled illegally.
Argentina’s Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno described the move as “a historic and unprecedented step” in the country’s almost 200-year campaign to secure sovereignty over the archipelago.
“Whoever explores or exploits our natural resources in the Malvinas without Argentine authorisation must face the consequences,” Mr Quirno wrote, using Argentina’s name for the Falklands.
The dispute has intensified as oil production near the islands approaches its expected start in 2028. Mr Milei has also threatened sanctions against companies involved in drilling around the Falklands, potentially preventing them from operating in Argentina’s expanding oil and mining industries.
A bill submitted to Argentina’s Congress proposes prison sentences of up to 20 years for extracting resources around the islands without authorisation. The proposed penalties would also cover fishing, which is central to the Falklands’ economy, while Argentine authorities say at least 60 companies and executives are being investigated.
An Argentine judge has separately ordered work on Sea Lion to stop while an environmental review is carried out.
Mr Milei devoted much of his recent address to the UN General Assembly to Argentina’s sovereignty claim, accusing the organisation of neglecting the dispute and describing the oil project as an illegal exploitation of Argentine resources.
Critics have accused the president of using the sovereignty issue to shore up support before next year’s election as Argentina’s economy struggles. The cause remains one of the few issues capable of uniting the country’s deeply divided political factions.
Mr Milei initially faced criticism from nationalist opponents for taking a conciliatory approach towards Britain and expressing admiration for Margaret Thatcher, who remains deeply unpopular in Argentina because she ordered the recapture of the islands during the 1982 conflict.
The war began after Argentina’s military dictatorship invaded the archipelago. It resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentine troops, 255 British service personnel and three islanders.
