Two weeks from Argentina to England for Falklands oil project

Argentinian President Javier Milei gave Britain a two-week deadline for the Sea Lion oil project off the coast of the Falkland Islands.

Milei announced that if the oil works are not stopped, they will take international legal action against the London administration.

In his statement on social media, Milei demanded that the work carried out in the Sea Lion oil field in the north of the Falkland Islands be stopped.

Milei, who opposed the project developed by Israeli Navitas Petroleum and British Rockhopper Exploration, stated that if the UK does not step back within two weeks, the legal process will be advanced.

Describing the project as "illegal exploitation" of Argentina's natural resources, Milei instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government's legal teams to initiate the international arbitration process.

According to the statement of the Argentine Presidency, the Buenos Aires administration will initiate an arbitration process within the scope of the 7th Annex of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Milei also stated that if the work continues, interim measures may be requested from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, Germany.

The development has brought the decades-long dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands back to the agenda.

The archipelago, which Argentina calls Malvinas, is under the control of England.

After Argentine forces landed on the islands in 1982, a 74-day war broke out between the two countries, and British forces regained control of the islands.

649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three island residents lost their lives in the war.

British Defense Minister Wes Streeting also argued in his recent statements that Argentina does not have the capacity to seize the islands by military means.

Streeting said, "This is not 1982. The Argentines do not have the capacity to capture the Falkland Islands. We have the capacity to defend the islands."

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced that London will continue to support the Falkland Islands residents' right to determine their own future.

The Sea Lion field, located approximately 200 kilometers north of the Falkland Islands, is estimated to contain approximately 1.7 billion barrels of oil.

Commercial production is planned to start in 2028 in the project developed by Israeli Navitas Petroleum and British Rockhopper Exploration. The companies state that they have valid licenses from the Falkland Islands administration for the work.

In the referendum held in the Falkland Islands in 2013, 99.8 percent of voters voted to maintain the status of a British overseas territory.

Argentina, on the other hand, maintains that the referendum does not change the sovereignty issue and maintains its claim on the islands.