Argentina vows to haul Britain to court over Falklands after watching Labour try to 'surrender' Chagos Islands

Argentina has given Britain a two-week deadline to stop any oil drilling off the coast of the Falkland Islands or risk a legal battle under "international law".

In his latest furious intervention, President Javier Milei said he had told Government lawyers to start proceedings under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

His threat centres on the Sea Lion project in the North Falkland basin, run by Israeli firm Navitas Petroleum with the UK's Rockhopper Exploration as a minority partner.

He claimed the oil venture was "illegitimate", accused Britain of "plundering our resources", and once again said the so-called "Malvinas" were Argentine land.

Mr Milei appeared to have stopped short of mentioning that the islands were first landed on by English explorers around 120 years before Argentina existed as an independent state.

"THE MALVINAS ARE ARGENTINE and they are defended with facts, not words," he raged.

Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno confirmed Britain had been formally notified of the start of an arbitration process.

"Whoever explores or exploits our natural resources in the Malvinas without Argentine authorisation must face the consequences," he said.

"We act in accordance with international law and by peaceful means."

According to The Times, Mr Milei's Government has been emboldened by the controversial ruling over the Chagos Islands in 2021.

International bureaucrats ruled that Britain was not legally the "coastal state" in the area, and had only limited authority over the islands.

That ruling was behind successive Tory and Labour attempts to come to an agreement with Mauritius over them.

Last May, Sir Keir Starmer finally announced to the world that Britain had reached a deal - which was swiftly panned by critics as a "surrender".

Under it, British taxpayers would have to pay Mauritius so the UK could lease back the joint US-UK military base on the islands - from Mauritius.

READ MORE ON THE FALKLAND ISLANDS:

• Benjamin Netanyahu rages at 'colonial' Britain amid Israel's Falkland Islands threats
• Donald Trump 'will NOT back Argentina over Falkland Islands' despite President's threat
• 'Unacceptable!' Britain hits back at Argentina after President threatens Falklands takeover at UN

Fury then erupted over why Britain wouldn't simply keep the islands British at no cost to the taxpayer.

Donald Trump then shot down the idea entirely - and now, ministers are thought to consider it dead.

Writing for GB News last week, former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel warned that Argentina would be keenly watching Labour's "surrender".

"The Argentinians are pushing their claims more forcefully than they have for some time because of the weakness of this Labour Government," she wrote.

The UK-Israeli oil drilling venture is expected to start early next year pending the Foreign Secretary's sign-off.

Argentina believes any prospecting or extraction of oil in the area without its consent is unlawful.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea can issue "legally binding" emergency orders over any such venture.

As with a lot of international law, the tribunal cannot force Britain to comply - though Labour has made adhering to it a central pillar of its foreign policy.

Mr Milei branded the UN a "useless" organisation last week and accused it of looking the other way while the UK introduced "unilateral changes" over the Falklands.

Due to its apparent uselessness, he threatened that Argentina would take matters into its own hands.

GB News has approached the Foreign Office for comment, though Britain's UN ambassador said in a statement last week: "Argentina regularly refers to United Nations resolutions, and regional diplomatic statements, calling for sovereignty negotiations over the Falkland Islands.

"However, these do not modify or dilute the obligation of nations to respect the legally binding right of self-determination."

It added: "Argentina continues to deny that this fundamental human right applies to the people of the Falkland Islands, and actively seeks opportunities in international fora to assert its sovereignty claim.

"This behaviour is wholly incompatible with the principles established in the United Nations Charter and is not the behaviour we expect of a democracy."