Argentina accuses Royal Navy of 'illegal' movements near the Falkland Islands before the World Cup semi-final
The foreign minister accused the HMS Medway of making a “military incursion” into Argentine waters earlier this month
Argentina has accused a British warship of making an "illegal" journey near the Falkland Islands just hours after the country's World Cup victory.
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The foreign minister accused the HMS Medway of making a “military incursion” into Argentine waters earlier this month.
The diplomatic complaint was lodged hours after Argentina's victory over England in the World Cup semi-final on Wednesday night.
In a statement, Pablo Quirno accused the Royal Navy vessel of making an “unconsulted and illegal” journey into Argentina's waters without informing the country's government.
He said a "“formal note of protest” had been lodged to mark “the strongest objection” to the action.
Read more: LBC callers condemn Argentina's 'shameful' Falklands banner
Read more: Argentina vice-president calls England 'usurping pirates' as tensions simmer before World Cup clash
HMS Medway is a Batch 2 River-class offshore patrol vessel which is usually based in the Falkland Islands.
It replaced the HMS Forth as the permanent guard vessel in the waters in January, and its duties include patrols and fishery protection.
In the statement on X, Mr Quirno said: “In diplomacy, work is not shouted about like goals, but we are driven by the same conviction: the pride of being Argentine and the constant defence of our interests.”
It comes amid a ramping up of historic tensions between the two nations over the Falkland Islands in the days leading up to their World Cup clash, which boiled over into conflict in 1982 when Argentina staged an invasion.
The British-controlled islands, situated 300 miles off Argentina's east coast, continue to remain the subject of a sovereignty argument between Britain and Argentina.
Argentina's players stoked tensions after holding up a banner that read “Las Malvinas son Argentinas”, or “The Falklands are Argentine" after the final whistle blew.
Ahead of the game on Wednesday evening - which saw Lionel Messi's team end England's World Cup dreams with a 2-1 victory - the Argentine vice-president had described England as “invaders” and “usurping pirates”.
Later on Wednesday night, she doubled down by posting pictures of the players holding the banner, with a message translating to: “The Falklands are Argentine! They banned bringing them to the stadium and forgot that we carry them in our blood and our hearts.”
Speaking on LBC this morning, business secretary Peter Kyle branded the banner as "offensive" and "entirely inappropriate".
"“Certainly one of the central tenets of the World Cup is that politics is kept separate," he told Tom Swarbrick.
"What they did was entirely inappropriate. It was of course offensive to us and I suspect lots of other people around the world who just wanted to watch the football."
Asked if he trusted Fifa to deal with the episode, Kyle responded that there "must be an investigation into it".
Tory shadow minister Andrew Griffith said: "Labour’s Chagos surrender has made us look weak, and British territory up for grabs. The Falklands are British. Whoever won the football.
"This idiotic display from the Argies was clearly against FIFA rules. They should be punished."
Speaking about posing with the banner, Argentinian midfielder Leandro Paredes said: "It's a sad part of our history.
"For everyone involved in that chapter of, I repeat, our history, it hurts.
"We knew we were playing for them too, for all the people, for our entire nation. I believe we did it in the best possible way."
In total, 255 British servicemen were among the 907 people who died in the 1982 Falklands War, which saw UK armed forces retake the islands after an Argentine invasion.
Britain first landed on the uninhabited islands in 1690 and claimed them for the Crown in 1765.
It has maintained a permanent presence there since 1833 - 47 years before Argentina became a fully unified state following its declaration of independence from Spain in 1816.
Buenos Aires has repeatedly claimed sovereignty over the islands, which are about 8,000 miles from Britain and 300 miles from mainland Argentina.
Las Malvinas is Argentina’s name for the Falklands, which in 2013 held a referendum where islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a UK overseas territory
Atlanta had deployed additional personnel for Wednesday’s semi-final in an effort to ensure safety and security.