The Falkland Islands government announced on Thursday it is content to hold preliminary talks with Argentina on air links and fisheries cooperation as was proposed by Argentine ambassador Alicia Castro to the Foreign Office last April 23, given certain clarifications.
Diplomats from the Argentine embassy in London invited senior representatives from Plaid Cymru, for talks in the past six months, reports The Daily Telegraph.
UK Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne has spoken of his admiration for the Falkland Islands people on the thirtieth anniversary of the conclusion of the Falklands conflict.
Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne pledged UK respect for the results of the Falkland Islands referendum to be held next year, and called on all governments who prize democracy and human rights to do likewise.
The Falkland Islands oil industry has contributed with an unexpected addition of £9.2M to the Falkland Islands Government (FIG) budget in the first nine months of the financial year 2011/12, reported the Islands government Standing Finance Committee.
The British government, in a move designed to ease concern among the investment community about the Argentine legal threats, has written to some 15 banks and oil exploration companies operating in the region, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Argentina has asked British and US market regulators to probe whether oil companies that are involved in hydrocarbons exploration off the disputed Falklands/Malvinas Islands have told investors about the risks of their illicit drilling, the Argentine Foreign Ministry reported.
Negotiations must start from a position of trust and “it is hard to trust a Government who so easily break their word, and who deny our right to exist as a people”, said Falklands lawmaker Roger Edwards in response to the announcement by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on direct air-links to the Falklands.
The Falkland Islands government and tourist industry admit to being confused and thus unable to comment in any great detail on the recent decision, apparently, by the Argentine provincial Government of Tierra del Fuego, turning away from Ushuaia two British flagged cruise ships earlier this week.
Falkland Islanders reacted with skepticism and further distrust to the latest announcements by Argentine president Cristina Fernandez regarding air links with Argentina, while Falklands’ elected lawmakers said the proposal was too ‘muddled’ and with errors for the local government to respond.