The foreign minister of Argentina, Pablo Quirno. affirmed Sunday that the government seeks to stop the exploitation of hydrocarbons at the Falkland Islands.
On Thursday, President Milei announced that his administration will implement a series of measures to bolster Argentina’s centuries-old claim of the Falkland Islands, a South American archipelago that is part of the territory of the United Kingdom.
The announcement follows recent developments at “Sea Lion,” a joint British-Israeli offshore oil and gas project about 140 miles north of the Falkland Islands that plans to begin its first oil operations in early 2028, according to one of the companies involved in the project.
Some of the measures announced by Milei include the imposition of sanctions on oil companies operating in or near the Falkland Islands, the establishment of a new military base in Argentina’s Tierra de Fuego province, and other national security and diplomacy-related policies.
Speaking with La Nación on Sunday Night, Foreign Minister Quirno provided additional details on Milei’s recent announcements. The Foreign Minister stated during the interview that the goal of the Argentine government and its new measures is to “stop” the beginning of the oil and gas extraction operations at the contested archipelago.
Per Infobae, Quirno justified Argentina’s protest of the extraction of resources at the Falklands based on a decades-old United Nations resolution asking both Argentina and the U.K. not to carry out unilateral actions “including the exploitation of natural resources,” until the “controversy is resolved.”
Milei cited the same U.N. request during last week’s announcements, suggesting that it would block the controversial Sea Lion oil project.
“What we hope is that friendly countries will support the view that exploitation violates the U.N. resolution,” Quirno said on Sunday.
Quirno also said the Argentine Foreign Ministry will be the government institution in charge of issuing any applicable sanctions on companies extracting oil at the Falkland Islands, as per the terms announced by Milei last week.
Days before Milei’s address Thursday, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that the United States is “reviewing” its position on the Falklands.
Quirno reportedly said that regardless of Trump’s remarks, the Argentine government had been working on its new measures for “several months” and only accelerated its efforts to make them public after news that the oil project is preparing to extract oil at the Falklands. Immediately afterwards, Quirno detailed, Argentina sent formal letters to the United Kingdom and the companies involved.
“This didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a joint effort spanning several months. We’ve been working on this since Navitas and Rockhopper announced their final investment decision in December,” Quirno said. “We sent letters of protest to both companies and to the ambassadors of Israel and the United Kingdom.”
“We’ve been following the case closely. As we received updates on the progress, we had to conduct an internal review of the tools at our disposal,” he continued.
The Falkland Islands were uninhabited until British sailors arrived in the 1600s, with no record of indigenous people on the island prior to the British arrival. The small population of the Falklands — all overwhelmingly ethnically British and Anglophone — have nearly unanimously voted to remain part of the United Kingdom in the past.
For nearly 200 years, Argentina has maintained a longstanding territory claim over the Falklands, which the South American nations refers to as the Malvinas Islands. The claim has been maintained by every past Argentine government regardless of political ideology, making the “Malvinas Cause” an intrinsic part of the country’s national identity.
The longstanding dispute led to Argentina engaging in a 74-day war against the United Kingdom in 1982 prompted by the military junta in charge at the time. The war resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the South American nation.
Foreign Minister Quirno affirmed to La Nación that, unlike past governments, the Milei administration has a diplomatic approach with “solid foundations” to substantiate Argentina’s claim of the islands. Said support, Quirno added, allows Argentina to design an “integrated strategy” in the defense of its interests and claim of the disputed territory.
“I have received calls from public companies operating in Argentina confirming their lack of support for hydrocarbon operations in the Falkland Islands,” Quirno said. “This is part of the perception people have of Argentina when it makes an announcement of this nature. It is important to understand Argentina’s different position of strength in this situation.”
Furthermore, Quirno emphasized that oil, financial, and insurance services will have to choose “whether to offer their services in Argentina within a stable regulatory framework or in a situation where there is a disputed territory and where the rules are fragile.”