Brussels, (EFE).- The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, appealed this Monday to the rest of the European and Latin American leaders to expand collaboration between the two regions in the current geopolitical context to defend multilateralism and the peaceful resolution of the conflicts.
Sánchez made that call in his speech at the EU-Celac summit that began today in Brussels and is taking place after eight years without being convened, something that stressed that it should never happen again.
“Solid ties” that unite the two regions
The head of the Executive, in his role also as six-monthly president of the Council of the EU, emphasized the “solid ties” of all kinds that unite the two regions and considered that the shared heritage is the best guarantee for a strategic alliance that , if it is used, he was convinced that it will bring great opportunities for everyone.
Without expressly mentioning the war in Ukraine (an issue that is causing differences between European and Latin American leaders due to the reference to it that there may be in the final declaration of the summit), Sánchez did say that “today more than ever” it is necessary to renew the common confidence in the values of multilateralism.
“Singularly – he added – in the peaceful resolution of conflicts, in the principles of the United Nations, in the protection of human rights, in respect for the territorial integrity of states and in the freedom of peoples.”
In his opinion, the current geopolitical context, but also the climate emergency or social inequality require redoubling efforts and adapting collaboration to challenges that must be faced without delay.
Sánchez only explicitly mentioned Ukraine when recalling a praiseworthy quote for the European project of the Colombian author Héctor Abad Faciolince, who accompanied the Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina during the Russian attack on Kramatorsk that injured the author and caused her death.
Relations with “key partners”
The head of the Government, who attended the summit accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, stressed that from the presidency of the Council of the EU, Spain wants to continue placing relations with “key partners” as a priority, such as the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Relations also in the field of trade and investment, at which time he repeated his wish that the negotiations for the ratification of the Twenty-seven agreements with Mercosur, Chile and Mexico could be concluded shortly.
Agreements that he guaranteed are beneficial for both Europe and Latin America, where he recalled that the EU is the first investor and has tools for this such as the so-called “Global Gateway” and in which context the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Monday that Europe will invest 45,000 million euros in Latin America.
Spain, as Sánchez recalled, will contribute 9,400 million euros through various public financing instruments.
Sánchez encouraged the leaders present at the summit to make the relationship between the two regions an opportunity to transform economic progress into social cohesion and build prosperity to create fairer societies.
That is why he urged that a road map and a permanent agreement mechanism come out of the Brussels summit in the face of global challenges such as climate change, irregular migration or social and territorial inequalities.
“There is a lot to talk about and a lot to learn from each other,” Sánchez stressed.