Buenos Aires, 28 September 2026. – The Office of the President hereby informs that, in response to the unlawful actions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, the President of the Argentine Republic has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government’s legal teams to initiate the arbitration procedure provided for under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), with the aim of preventing the unlawful exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in the North Malvinas Basin through the project known as “Sea Lion”, as well as the adoption of any other measure liable to aggravate the situation, in particular the granting of new permits for the exploitation of natural resources located on the Argentine Continental Shelf.
Through Resolution 2065 (XX), the United Nations General Assembly recognized the existence of a sovereignty dispute between the Argentine Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas, and called upon both Governments to find a peaceful solution to the dispute through negotiations.
Furthermore, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/49 expressly called upon both countries to refrain from taking decisions that would imply unilateral modifications to the situation while the process recommended by the General Assembly remains ongoing.
The unilateral exploitation of the natural resources of the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the surrounding maritime areas is contrary to international law and causes irreversible and irreparable harm to the sovereign rights of the Argentine Republic.
Within this framework, the Argentine Republic has formally called upon the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to adopt, within two weeks, the necessary measures to prevent the commencement or continuation of activities aimed at exploiting hydrocarbon resources on the Argentine Continental Shelf. Should the United Kingdom fail to comply with this request within the specified period, the Argentine Republic will request that the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea prescribe the necessary provisional measures to preserve Argentina’s sovereign rights over its Continental Shelf.
Furthermore, the Argentine Republic categorically rejects the United Kingdom’s response to the statement delivered by the President of the Argentine Republic, Javier G. Milei, before the United Nations General Assembly. The purported designation of the Malvinas Islands as a “British Overseas Territory” and the unilateral referendum held in 2013, which is not internationally recognized, do not alter either the existence or the subject matter of the sovereignty dispute recognized by the United Nations.
Finally, following the detection of operations carried out by THALES UK LIMITED on the Malvinas Islands–Punta Arenas air route, using a United Kingdom-registered aircraft without authorization from the Argentine authorities, the President of the Argentine Republic has instructed the relevant Government teams to urgently initiate the corresponding sanctioning procedures and criminal complaints, as well as the appropriate diplomatic démarches.
The Argentine Republic will not stand idly by and will continue to firmly defend its sovereign rights, using all diplomatic, administrative and legal instruments available to it under national and international law.
The Malvinas are Argentine.
