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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was received at his first stop on his Latin American tour by the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernández. The free trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur was at the center of the meeting. As part of his tour of the south of the American continent, the head of the German Executive will visit Chile and Brazil in the coming days.
A key visit for two important economic blocks. The German head of government, Olaf Scholz, arrived in Argentina in the context of his first tour of Latin America since he took office. At this stop, the first of his journey, the foreign minister met with his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernández.
The meeting focused on strictly economic issues. Germany is looking for other markets in the context that Europe is experiencing with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It also tries not to depend, to a certain extent, on the Chinese market, which is why Latin America presents itself as an important area to explore new agreements.
Both presidents spoke in favor of accelerating the necessary processes to finalize the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.
“It is important that we have a constructive spirit, we must work side by side to find a way and for the negotiations to come to fruition,” said Scholz.
The German chancellor highlighted the importance of the application of the agreement reached between the two blocs in 2019, which makes the ratification of the pact “an objective”. For the leader of the German Executive it is “of special importance”.
“Our wish is that we do not continue prolonging the discussion and that we can quickly reach an agreement and put it into operation. This will do the EU economy and Mercosur good, we are convinced”, said President Fernández.
In this sense, the Argentine president highlighted the arrival to the presidency of Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva as an incentive to give the final impetus to the project. With ‘Lula’ “we are in a better position to promote the agreement, because the coincidences are greater”, pointed out the Latin American president.
This agreement, Fernández continued, “would make it possible to draw an axis that, in some way, promotes multilateralism in a world that tends to become polarized.” However, Alberto Fernández drew attention to the protectionism applied by certain nations of the old continent, which “makes access difficult” for Mercosur towards Europe.
Scholz continues his tour
The German head of government will have other stops in Chile and Brazil, important mining and food markets respectively. According to an official from Scholz’s executive, “these three countries are all interesting partners for the diversification of our economic relations in general, but also of our supply of basic products.”
The Chancellor of Germany is accompanied by a dozen businessmen and the Deputy Minister of Economy Franziska Brantner. The Minister of Development, Svenja Schulze, will join him on the trip to Brazil.
Passing through the South American giant is key to linking both economies (Mercosur – EU).
As reported by the Reuters agency, the ambassadors of the European Union once made it known that the agreement would not advance unless measures were taken to stop deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.
with Reuters
