MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Antarctic Secretariat: Britain plans “gentle pressure” for Argentina to modernise its Antarctic scie

Following the completion of the annual meeting of the Antarctic Treaty nations in St Petersburg, Russia, the head of the Polar regions Section at the British Foreign Office has been discussing the decision to base the Treaty's secretariat in Buenos Aires

Dr Mike Richardson told the BBC World Service programme Calling the Falklands, that Britain had agreed to drop its decade-long opposition to Argentina hosting the treaty's permanent headquarters, but suggested that during the few years it takes to establish this Argentine will come under "gentle pressure" to improve the quality of its scientific research in Antarctica, moving away from an apparent political policy of simply maintaining a presence on the continent.

The British, whose claim to Antarctica overlaps that of Argentina, believe that Buenos Aires wants to host the organisation to give further weight to its territorial claim. This fear seemed to be given substance when, earlier this week, the Argentine Foreign Office issued a statement saying the decision to base a headquarters in Buenos Aires represented "recognition by the Antarctic community of 100 years of uninterrupted Argentine presence in Antarctica"

Dr Richardson said that this was "to a degree" the kind of nationalistic rhetoric that worries him. He added: "We had always hoped that the host to the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat would be seen as a relatively neutral host, up to date in Antarctic thinking, and we have been trying gently over the last few years to, in some ways, bring Argentines science in Antarctica more in tune with modern thinking. So we have been trying to affect some changes in the Argentines' attitude towards Antarctica.

"Many Treaty parties will now probably continue the gentle pressure to try and make sure that Argentina, as the prospective host to the Antarctic Treaty, does in fact modernise its Antarctic programme. The balance between science and simply presence does need to be addressed in its Antarctic thinking."

Britain is not, however, opposed in general to the idea of establishing a permanent Secretariat. Dr Richardson said that as the Treaty attracts more signatories its business becomes more complex - a new country, Estonia, was admitted to the treaty during the Russian meeting. He said that it is now necessary to consider whether, after 40 years, the Treaty needs to become an organisation, rather than simply a list of signatories to an agreement. "We might have to create an organisation out o