David Cameron has told Argentina in a “clear and robust” way to stop threatening oil and gas companies exercising their legal rights to explore the Falkland Islands and the surrounding waters.

In remarks which prompted the Argentinian president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to accuse him of having acted in an “almost ill-mannered” way, the prime minister told Buenos Aires that it was “unacceptable” to threaten companies hoping to invest in the Falklands.

Cameron made his remarks to Héctor Timerman, the Argentinian foreign minister, at a two-day summit of 61 EU, Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Brussels.

In a round-table discussion before dinner on Wednesday night the prime minister asked for the floor after Timerman had delivered a lengthy lecture on Britain’s “colonialism” which began 182 years ago when the UK “expelled Argentine population and authorities from the Malvinas Islands”, according to the MercoPress news agency.

The prime minister said Argentina should respect the rights of the Falkland islanders and should stop threatening companies. Cameron’s spokeswoman said: “The PM responded following the Argentine foreign minister’s intervention in a clear and robust way.



“The points he made were that we should respect the right of Falkland islanders, that we should respect the principle of self-determination, that there had been a referendum in the Falkland Islands and they had clearly expressed their view. We should respect that.



“The point that the prime minister then made was that it was unacceptable of Argentina to be threatening companies looking to invest in the Falkland Islands or in the waters surrounding that.”

Cameron’s intervention prompted an angry response from Buenos Aires. President Fernández said: “The prime minister’s response was irate, almost ill-mannered.”

The prime minister spoke out after Argentina threatened in April to sue three British oil and gas companies that are seeking to invest in the Falklands and the surrounding waters. Daniel Filmus, the Argentinian minister known as the secretary of state for the Malvinas, announced in April that charges had been laid against five companies licensed by the Falkland Islands government to drill. The charges carry the threat of extradition to Argentina.

In his remarks to the summit in Brussels, the Argentinian foreign minister cited the example of the oil companies as he spoke of how “colonialism still persists, relying on the logic of appropriation of natural resources”. Timerman added, according to MercoPress: “In recent months the south Atlantic has witnessed hydrocarbons explorations in the proximity of the Malvinas Islands. Currently a consortium of companies is going ahead with an exploratory drilling round in waters subject to a sovereignty conflict acknowledged by the United Nations and the international community.”

The prime minister had been expecting an intervention from the Argentinians and was prepared. He reportedly said: “As regards the Argentine minister’s statements, I would like to reply, and I would like my words to be recorded in the minutes. The Falklands have the right to self-determination and the surrounding waters are under jurisdiction of the Falklands. I reject the threatening words of the Argentine foreign minister.”

Downing Street declined to confirm whether the news agency had an accurate account of the prime minister’s words. Cameron’s spokeswoman said of his pre-prepared remarks: “The Argentine foreign minister chose to make an intervention, where he raised the Falkland Islands, at a summit that has been about the EU and the Caribbean and Latin America community looking at how they can cooperate more closely together. At the end of that intervention, when the foreign minister had finished, the prime minister asked for the floor and clearly but robustly defended the rights of the Falkland islanders.”

MercoPress reported that Timerman told the summit that 10 June is the Malvinas Islands Day of Sovereign Rights Reaffirmation, which marks the anniversary of “the creation of the first patriot government in the Malvinas” in 1829.