The Argentinian ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Office in a fresh diplomatic row about the Falkland Islands, officials have confirmed.
Argentina’s president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Ambassador Alicia Castro last week launched new criticism of the British government’s plan to boost defences on the south Atlantic islands, said the Guardian.
It has also been suggested that oil firms could be prosecuted if they start work in the waters around the islands without formal permission from Argentina.
A Foreign & Commonwealth Office spokesman said the ambassador was summoned on Wednesday. “The UK has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and surrounding maritime areas, nor about the Falkland Islanders’ right to decide their own future,” he said.
“We object strongly to recent statements by the Argentine president and the Argentine ambassador to London, and so summoned the ambassador to account for these.”
Britain last week dismissed the threat of prosecution against oil and gas firms.
The comments came after three British firms – Premier Oil, Rockhopper Exploration and Falkland Oil & Gas – announced they had found oil and gas in a remote field north of the islands, which are claimed by Argentina.