MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ibero-American foreign ministers unanimously back Argentina’s Falklands claim

“The Ibero-American community reaffirms, once again, its support for the Argentine Republic,” said Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno

Ibero-American foreign ministers meeting in Madrid unanimously approved a special communiqué backing Argentina’s sovereignty claim over the Falklands and calling on Argentina and the United Kingdom to resume negotiations, on the eve of the Hamburg hearing on the Sea Lion oil project.

The document, approved at the foreign ministers’ meeting held during the 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, urges both governments to resume talks on the dispute “as soon as possible” and acknowledges Argentina’s “constructive attitude”. The Ibero-American Conference, which brings together the countries of Latin America with Spain, Portugal and Andorra, routinely adopts such a statement at its summits.

“The Ibero-American community reaffirms, once again, its support for the Argentine Republic,” said Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno, who called the issue “a sacred cause for Argentines” and defended the diplomatic route to end what he considers an anachronistic colonial situation.

The backing comes five days before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea holds hearings in Hamburg on November 10 and 11 on the four provisional measures Argentina requested on October 13 to halt Sea Lion, which is being developed by Israel’s Navitas Petroleum and Britain’s Rockhopper Exploration. According to the tribunal’s schedule, Argentina will present on the first day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the United Kingdom from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; on the second day, Argentina will speak from 10.30 a.m. to noon and the UK will close from 5.30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Argentina’s agent is Ambassador Mario Oyarzábal. The tribunal’s 21 permanent judges include Argentina’s Frida María Armas Pfirter, its vice-president, while the United Kingdom, which has no judge of its nationality, has chosen British professor Vaughan Lowe as judge ad hoc.

Argentina is not asking the tribunal to rule on sovereignty, but on rights to maritime resources and the environmental obligations set out in the Law of the Sea Convention. Sea Lion is expected to begin development drilling in 2027 and commercial production in 2028.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has called Argentine attempts to interfere with commercial activity in the area “unacceptable”. According to Infobae, the British government will activate legislation before the end of the year to protect Navitas and Rockhopper from possible Argentine sanctions. London maintains that it will not negotiate sovereignty unless the islanders wish it.