By Nicholas Winning in London and Taos Turner in Buenos Aires
The U.K. government on Friday confirmed its ambassador in Buenos
Aires had been summoned to a meeting at Argentina's foreign
ministry, in the latest flare-up of the long-running diplomatic row
over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands that has engulfed oil
and gas exploration companies.
The Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Eduardo Zuain summoned the
U.K. ambassador on Thursday to explain a report published by online
magazine The Intercept that contended the U.K. had spied on
Argentina over the Falklands dispute, the Argentine embassy in
London said in a statement. The meeting Thursday came a day after
the U.K. had summoned the Argentine ambassador in London.
Argentina continues to lay claim to the U.K.'s overseas
territory in the South Atlantic, which are called Las Malvinas in
Spanish, and has called for talks to resolve the dispute over which
the two countries fought a brief and bloody war in 1982. The
prospect of large oil and gas finds off the coast of the islands
has served to ratchet up tensions between the two countries in
recent years.
During Thursday's meeting, Mr. Zuain notified the U.K.
ambassador of Argentina's intention to take legal action that day
against companies carrying out hydrocarbon exploration in the
waters around the Falklands and he expressed the Argentine
government's unease about the U.K.'s plans to spend GBP180 million
($264.83 million) on modernizing its military infrastructure on the
islands.
The same day, Argentina filed a criminal complaint with a
government body--similar to the Attorney General's office in the
U.S.--against several exploration companies, including from the
U.K. and U.S., according to the Argentine government. The
government said its complaint alleges the companies are breaking
the law by engaging in offshore exploration without previously
obtaining approval from Argentina's energy secretariat. It added
that the complaint also includes criminal accusations against the
companies' executives and board members.
"Since 2012 the government has been taking legal steps aimed at
protecting the natural resources that fall under its sovereignty
and jurisdiction, and at rejecting illegal hydrocarbon activities
on its continental platform," Argentina's Foreign Ministry said in
a statement on Thursday.
According to the Argentine government, the companies named in
the complaint include are: U.K. based Rockhopper Exploration PLC,
Premier Oil PLC, and Falkland Oil And Gas Limited. All three
companies declined to comment.
The government said the complaint also included U.S.-based Noble
Energy Inc. and Edison International Spa, of Italy. Neither was
immediately able to comment.
The U.K. Foreign Office on Friday rejected the Argentine legal
proceedings.
"We have always been clear that this law does not apply outside
of Argentine jurisdiction, but encourage companies who are
concerned to get in touch with us and to seek legal advice," it
said in a statement.
U.K. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon announced the military
investment in late March following a review of the defense needs of
the islands, which considered any changes that might arise from the
islanders' plans to develop their economy, including oil and gas
exploration. In a statement in Parliament he said he had endorsed
the U.K. armed forces' assessment that the current military
presence on the Falklands was proportionate to the threats and
risks that were faced.
The U.K. has repeatedly affirmed its commitment to defend the
right of the Falklands to determine their own sovereignty against
any threats ever since Argentina's then-ruling military junta
invaded the islands on April 2, 1982, before U.K. forces wrestled
back control of the islands after a 74-day conflict in which 649
Argentine and 255 U.K. soldiers died.
The U.K. government summoned Argentina's ambassador, Alicia
Castro, to a meeting at the Foreign Office in London on Wednesday
to express its objection to recent statements she and Argentine
President Cristina Kirchner had made about the U.K. military
investment on the Falklands.
"The U.K. 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," the Foreign Office
said in a statement.
The U.K. government declined to comment on The Intercept report,
in line with its usual policy of not discussing intelligence
matters.
Selina Williams contributed to this article.
Write to Nicholas Winning at nick.winning@wsj.com and Taos
Turner at taos.turner@wsj.com
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