Falkland Islands: UK minister talks of "building common agendas" with Argentina
Penguin News, February 23
"Argentina has masses of problems economically," and as a result the Falklands are low on their agenda said Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs John Battle on Wednesday [21 February].
Mr Battle, who believes it an advantage that the Argentine government has a "cool-headed" attitude to the Islands, went on to speak in highly complimentary terms of the confidence and optimism of Islanders' attitudes to their future.
He commented that he strongly believes tension has been eased in the South Atlantic and that, "...a building of common agendas (combating poaching, oil exploration) will be much stronger in the future than the upping of the political ante".
Asked about the slow movement in the Special Area, he expressed optimism because: "When there is an intention to get access to potential (oil, gas) resources, what everybody knows is, if there are intense political difficulties around even agreeing the licensing regime it will drive companies away; nobody wins because nobody gets any investment."
This is not in the interests of here or Argentina. "I often find that, in the end, when it comes to ensuring that the companies maintain their interests the fluctuation of the oil price is a big driver in ensuring that political tension is sorted out.
"It focuses minds because if you really want those potential reserves looked at and exploited beneficially then you have got to move the agenda on pretty swiftly because the oil price in the world market determines where companies go and invest."
Despite Argentine unhappiness at the Islands' action of further exploring the North Falklands Basin via an "open door" policy Mr Battle said he did not expect, "...more than the usual difficulties", from that country.
Regarding Falklands' hopes for a multilateral fishing agreement (see below) he said "Yes, I think it will happen... "It will take a long time to work out the detail of the cooperation on fisheries, oil, distances and access, but it is starting to shift a bit."
Sing-a-long minister
On Tuesday evening Mr Battle participated in a "Folk music night" at Malvina House Hotel. He needed little persuasion to pick up a guitar and entertain Islanders with two expertly sung folk songs.
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