The Falkland Islands Government, FIG, reacted to the Tuesday official Argentine announcement of its extension of the continental shelf saying it was waiting clarification from the UK government on the implications, if any for the Islands. What is certain is that it does not affect fisheries or squid catches, one of the Islands main source of income.
The new map of Argentina, implemented by the UN resolution that extends the country's continental shelf is an example of “State policy”, since it's a claim that has been elaborated in international forums for over twenty years under different governments, underlined president Mauricio Macri, following the official announcement on Tuesday.
Argentina on Monday made the official presentation of the outer limit of its continental platform, passed by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, on March 11, during a media conference which included officials from the foreign ministry, officers from the Navy and Coast Guard, scientists and lawmakers.
Foreign minister Susana Malcorra is scheduled to officially announce on Monday the external limit of Argentina's continental shelf based on a unanimous decision from the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, (dependent from the Oceans and Law of the Sea), which adds to Argentina's shelf 1.7 million square kilometers, apparently confirming areas surrounding the Falklands/Malvinas, other South Atlantic islands and the Antarctica Argentine sector.
Argentina made a technical presentation last week before the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, CLCS, on the exterior limits of the Argentine shelf in which the claimed territories of the Malvinas, South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands and ‘Argentine Antarctica’ were included.