Britain hands Argentina millions in aid through EU scheme

BRITAIN is giving Argentina millions of pounds in aid under an EU scheme attacked as ‘potty’ yesterday by a furious MEP.

The cash is being handed to Buenos Aires at a time when the regime there is menacing Britain over the Falklands and yesterday urged its firms to boycott British goods.

Tory MEP Nirj Deva said EU documents revealed an aid programme to Argentina worth 65million euros between 2007 and 2013.

He said Britain’s share of that would be nearly £7million at current exchange rates.

The UK has also been obliged to contribute through the International Monetary Fund to a support scheme of loans for Argentina which has funnelled an astonishing £450million to Buenos Aires over the last 12 years.

Britain’s share of that cash is £20million.

Mr Deva told EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton in Brussels: ‘Why is EU aid being sent at the same time Argentina is sabrerattling and threatening the UK over the Falklands? Can you please have a look at this?

‘Why are we giving money to the Argentines that they may use to attack the Falkland Islands? It is potty, dotty and mad.’

As the threat of a trade war emerged the UK summoned the Argentine chargé d’affaires in

‘It is not in their economic interest’

London to the Foreign Office for a dressing down.

Downing Street issued a thinlyveiled threat to retaliate unless the regime backs off.

Debora Giorgi, the industry minister in Buenos Aires, had earlier telephoned the bosses of around 20 Argentine companies to urge them to replace imports from Britain with goods produced elsewhere.

President Cristina Kirchner has been ramping up the rhetoric over the Falklands ahead of the 30th anniversary next month of the conflict in which Argentina invaded the islands and they were retaken by British forces.

Buenos Aires is furious that the UK has refused to negotiate over sovereignty, in part because oil exploration is taking place around the islands. A spokesman for the industry minister said: ‘The government is sending a signal to those who still use colonialism as a means of accessing foreign natural resources.’

The Prime Minister’s spokesman hit back, saying: ‘The UK is the sixth largest investor in Argentina and we import from Argentina significantly more than we export to them. So it is firmly not in Argentina’s economic interest to put up these barriers to trade.’

Britain has invested more than £1.25billion in Argentina in the last three years.

Major UK exports include chemicals, pharmaceuticals, power generating equipment, road vehicles and non-ferrous metals. Imports from Argentina include animal feed stuff, cereals, vegetables and fruit, meats, iron and steel.