Tensions escalate, Argentina "accuses" Britain at the United Nations

(Baonghean) - Recently, the British side informed that they had found oil and gas in the North of the Malvinas Islands, which the UK calls the Falklands - which is in a sovereignty dispute with Argentina, right on the occasion of Argentina celebrating the 33rd anniversary of the outbreak of war between the two countries. Not only that, in response to the British government's recent announcement to strengthen defense capabilities in the disputed islands, the Argentine side sent a letter of complaint to the Secretary-General of the United Nations about this action, which is considered a provocative military escalation. This series of new developments is stirring up tensions due to the sovereignty dispute that has existed between Argentina and the UK for decades.

“Black gold” - fuel for tension

In a recent development, the British press reported that after 9 months of exploration, the British companies Premier Oil, Falklands Oil & Gas and Rockhopper discovered oil and gas in one of the four wells in the North of the Malvinas Islands, which Britain calls the Falklands. According to AFP, the newly discovered oil pockets could have reserves of up to 100 million barrels, worth billions of dollars. The British companies' oil and gas exploration plan will last for 8 months and the British Eirik Raude drilling rig is currently present in the Malvinas/Falklands waters. Immediately, the Secretary of State in charge of the Malvinas Islands at the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Filmus, spoke out against the British companies' placement of oil and gas exploration rigs in the Malvinas. Mr. Filmus also said that the Argentine government is preparing legal procedures to fight against this action by the UK.

Oil and gas exploration underway off the Malvinas/Falklands Islands. Source: Premier Oil

In fact, tensions between the UK and Argentina over the sovereignty of the Falkland/Malvinas Islands have been heating up since 2010, after the UK allowed companies to conduct oil and gas exploration and exploitation in this disputed archipelago. Of course, Argentina has always tried to prevent oil exploitation here. But the latest development is that the UK has sent a drilling rig to prepare for exploiting the newly discovered oil field, causing tensions to flare up again. According to the Argentine Petroleum Law of 2013, those who run oil and gas exploration and exploitation companies without the government's permission will be imprisoned for up to 15 years and fined an amount equivalent to the value of 1.5 million barrels of oil. However, the British government, on the contrary, believes that the Argentine Petroleum Law is not valid in the Falkland/Malvinas Islands.

The dispute has been lingering for more than 30 years

To understand better, looking back at history, the Malvinas/Falklands archipelago is located about 650 km from the coast of Argentina and nearly 8,000 km from the UK, with a total area suitable for oil exploitation of up to 400,000 km2. The archipelago was occupied by the British army since 1833, until 1982, Argentina attacked the British garrison but only occupied the archipelago for 74 days and was then defeated. From then on, the issue of sovereignty disputes over the islands began to arise and diplomatic relations between Argentina and the UK were also severed. It was not until the late 1980s, after many efforts to mend relations, that the two sides officially resumed bilateral relations in 1990. However, subsequent diplomatic efforts were not enough to help the two sides resolve the dispute related to the Malvinas/Falklands archipelago.

In particular, 2010 was the time when tensions flared up when Britain allowed companies to conduct oil and gas exploration and exploitation in the disputed archipelago. To defend its position, Britain argued that in the March 2013 referendum, 98% of the people in this archipelago voted in favor of the Malvinas/Falklands status as one of the British overseas territories. But of course, Argentina did not accept and continued to bring the dispute over this archipelago to the United Nations. Most recently, on April 2, Argentine President Cristina Fernández affirmed that Buenos Aires would not give up its claim to sovereignty and called on London to negotiate to resolve the disagreement. Currently, the Argentine government is also preparing legal procedures to oppose Britain's oil and gas exploration drilling in the disputed waters.

Not only expressing a tough stance on the issue of illegal oil exploitation in the disputed archipelago, the President of Argentina also commented that the British Government is using the excuse of militarizing the disputed archipelago with Argentina to justify the plan to increase the defense budget. This statement was made when recently on March 24, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that he would strengthen the defense capacity in the disputed archipelago with Argentina to deal with "existing and specific threats". Accordingly, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said the plan will last 10 years with a total cost of up to 268 million USD, including upgrading the surface-to-air missile system and deploying 2 Chinook helicopters to the archipelago in mid-2016. Not willing to give up, Argentine Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman recently sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization, the Secretaries General of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), expressing concern about the UK's militarization of the Antarctic region.

British calculations

In fact, according to analysts, Britain may actually believe that Argentina is becoming an increasingly large threat to its South Atlantic territory, as Argentina currently has a warm relationship with Russia. As a manifestation, the British newspaper The Sun recently reported that Russia is planning to lease 12 Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer aircraft to Argentina in any case that happens to this country, in return, Argentina will guarantee the supply of beef and wheat to Russia, after this country restricted the import of agricultural products from the US and Europe.

Although this information has not been confirmed, it may be reasonable, because the UK has repeatedly blocked Argentina's fighter jet purchase contracts with Western countries. Meanwhile, Argentina and Russia's relationship has recently become more friendly and warm, as Moscow has stepped up cooperation with Latin American countries to overcome the consequences of Western sanctions related to the Ukraine crisis. Therefore, Argentina's turn to Russia is possible.

But there is also information that the UK's defense buildup is because the country's defense minister wants to use the disputed islands with Argentina as a political tool in the upcoming parliamentary elections in May. Because Fallon's Conservative Party has a tradition of bringing up defense issues to gain points in elections. But perhaps Argentina's appeal to international organizations may negatively affect Britain's efforts to strengthen relations with emerging economies in Latin America.

This is certainly something that Britain has not fully anticipated in its calculations, because the countries in the South American Common Market (MECOSUR) have always supported Argentina in the sovereignty dispute with Britain in the Falkland/Malvinas. Therefore, according to observers, with the current developments, military conflict may not occur with the mediation efforts of the international community, but the tension between Britain and Argentina will certainly worsen. Especially in the context where the dispute is being brought up to serve certain interests or calculations. At that time, unpredictable developments will only bring damage to both sides.

Phuong Hoa