Argentina’s Milei Vows Falklands Oil Sanctions in Sovereignty Push

Reuters

Argentine President Javier Milei.

Argentine President Javier Milei said he would impose sanctions on oil companies drilling in the Falkland Islands, the British overseas territory claimed by Argentina, in a move that could escalate tensions with London.

Milei made the remarks in a televised national address on Thursday, days after US President Donald Trump said he was reviewing Washington’s neutral position on the remote South Atlantic archipelago.

Milei described plans by two oil companies to conduct exploration in the islands, which Argentina calls Las Malvinas, as an urgent threat to Argentine interests, 44 years after Argentina was defeated by Britain in a war over the territory.

He said he would send Congress a bill aimed at strengthening Argentina’s response to what he described as violations of its sovereignty.

Britain has controlled the islands since 1833 and maintains that Falkland Islanders should determine their own future. British Defence Minister Wes Streeting said on Friday that the people living there had chosen to be British.

"Milei’s statement overnight tells us more about domestic politics in Argentina than it does about the Falkland Islands," Streeting said on X. "Our commitment to the Falklands is absolute and unshakeable."

Milei has previously favoured diplomacy as the best means of pursuing Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, but his tougher stance may have been encouraged by his ally Trump’s repeated remarks on the issue.

Trump told GB News on Thursday that he was unsure whether Britain would be prepared to fight for the islands again.

"I just don't know if you (Britain) have the capacity to do that," Trump said. "The Falklands is very interesting because ‌your country ⁠is not the same country it was 20 years ago, 25 years ago."

Britain’s then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dispatched a naval task force to the South Atlantic following Argentina’s invasion of the Falkland Islands in April 1982. British forces regained control of the islands after 74 days of fighting.

A potential shift in the US position on the Falkland Islands was reportedly among a range of options considered by the Pentagon earlier this year as a means of pressuring NATO allies that Washington believed had failed to support US military operations during the war with Iran.

Seeking to ratchet up its sovereignty claims, Milei said he would send Congress an urgent "national sovereignty defence" bill to toughen penalties for unauthorized operations around the islands, extend sanctions to suppliers and broaden the legal framework to cover other activities affecting Argentina's natural resources.

Milei said Argentina would boost efforts to levy penalties not only against the companies involved, but also against their shareholders, directors and suppliers.

Source: Reuters



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