London Confident Falkland Islands Belong to UK – Foreign Office

LONDON (Sputnik) — London has no doubt that the Falkland Islands are part of the United Kingdom, British Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson told RIA Novosti Thursday in response to recent claims by Argentine President Cristina Kirchner that the islands will soon return to Argentina.

"The UK has no doubt about its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands and surrounding maritime areas, nor about the Falkland Islanders' right to decide their own future… We object strongly to recent statements by the Argentine President and the Argentine Ambassador to London and so summoned the Ambassador to account for these."

Last week, Cristina Kirchner ordered the declassification of all secret documents of the 1982 Falklands War with Britain, saying that "we will see the islands form part of our territory again," adding that "it’s not just wishful thinking.”

Argentine, in claims that it inherited the Falkland Islands after they became independent of Spain, threatened to prosecute oil companies “illegally operating” near the islands.

The Falklands War refers to a ten-week-long military conflict between the United Kingdom and Argentina over two British territories in the South Atlantic, the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Beginning in April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish sovereignty, the war claimed over 900 lives. It ended on June 14, 1982 with Argentina's surrender of the archipelago.

In a 2013 referendum, almost 100 percent of the islanders voted to remain a British overseas territory.

The conflict over the disputed territory intensified again recently, as significant amounts of oil were discovered near the islands.