The British government blasted Argentina for using "bullying tactics" in an effort to intimidate oil companies seeking to operate near the Falkland Islands,
according to Sky News.
The Foreign Office said the Falklands were not subject to a new law passed last month by the Argentine Congress, imposing harsh penalties against oil forms operating there, including fines, asset seizures and sentences of up to 15 years in prison.
"Argentine domestic law does not apply to the Falkland Islands, so this is a baseless gesture intended to deter legitimate commercial activity,” the Foreign Office said, accusing Buenos Aires of attempting “to strangle the Falklands economy.”
It added that London “fully supports” the right of Falkland Islanders to develop energy resources and said that in doing so, they were acting “in strict accordance with” the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty.
Argentinean legislators approved the law criminalizing oil operations in the Falklands in the wake of scores of angry protests by left-wing nationalists demanding that Britain surrender the territory to Argentina, Sky News reported.
Last year, they rioted near the British Embassy when Prince William was on duty in the Falklands as a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot,
The Express newspaper reported, burning a British soldier in effigy.
Three months ago, they burned Queen Elizabeth in effigy and torched the Union flag as well near an international meeting in Buenos Aires to decide on the location of the 2020 Olympics.
Britain and Argentina have both claimed the Falklands (called the Malvinas by Argentina) as their own territory dating back several centuries, and the two nations went to war over the islands in 1982.
Britain established control over the territory in the 1830s and has ruled there ever since. Last year, residents voted overwhelmingly to remain a British territory.
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