“We hope that the two countries, Spain and Argentina, find a solution to resolve this bilateral dispute“, said this Tuesday the foreign spokesperson of the European Commission, Peter Stano. Brussels seeks to cool the tension and tries to contain the shock wave of the diplomatic crisis between Pedro Sanchez and Javier Mileiwith the aim of not dynamiting the negotiations of the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, which are already on the verge of shipwreck.
The head of community diplomacy, Josep Borrellalready censored on Sunday afternoon the Argentine president’s words about Begoña Gómez. “Attacks against relatives of political leaders have no place in our culture: we condemn and reject themespecially when they come from partners,” wrote Borrell on his X account.
“Political freedom, prosperity, social cohesion based on fiscal redistribution and respect in public debate are pillars of the EU,” the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy also stated in his tweet. A written statement after receiving the call from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares.
[El Gobierno retira a la embajadora de España en Argentina y lamenta la insistencia de Milei]
When asked again this Tuesday, the European Commission He did not want to delve into the controversy between Spain and Argentina. “It is very important for us to reject and condemn the attacks that are directed against members of politicians’ families. Because in the EU we have the culture of discussion, democracy and plurality, but in the political field. Personal attacks to members of politicians’ families are not acceptable,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman simply repeated.
Borrell himself met on May 6 in the Belgian capital with the Argentine Foreign Minister, Diana Mondino. A meeting that took place in a relaxed and constructive environment in which Mondino assured Borrell that Argentina considers the EU as a “natural partner”. The Milei Government seemed to have settled the controversy over Óscar Puente’s statements.
However, the Argentine president’s speech at the convention of radical right forces organized by Vox has created discomfort in Brussels not only because of his attack on Pedro Sánchez’s wife. Also for the “radical disqualification” of one of the “basic pillars” of European society: the “construction of a State of fiscal redistribution”. “We are shocked that they say that this is stealing or using violence,” explain European sources.
In any case, Brussels currently rules out any intervention to cool the dispute between Spain and Argentina. The fight is also not on the agenda of the meeting of EU foreign ministers to be held on May 27. “In Europe we will ensure that things do not affect relations with the EU, at a time when we are discussing Mercosur,” the sources consulted underline.
In fact, It was Sánchez himself who made an effort to promote the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur (a group that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) during the Spanish presidency in the second half of 2023. It did not succeed due to the opposition of countries like France or Ireland, which want to protect their industry meat.
The pact with Mercosur – which was closed in 2019 after 20 years of negotiations – is the largest trade agreement concluded by the EU to date and would mean a saving of more than 4,000 million euros annual tariffs for EU companies. For Brussels, it also has an important geopolitical dimension because it strengthens relations with Latin America. However, his signature has stalled after raising the EU. new environmental demands to the Latin American bloc.
“The EU-Mercosur teams continue to be in contact at a technical level to make progress on pending issues. The priority for the EU remains to ensure that the agreement meets the EU’s sustainability objectives, while respecting EU sensitivities in the agricultural sector“, the Commission’s Trade spokesperson, Olof Gill, explained to EL ESPAÑOL.
If, as a consequence of this crisis with Milei, Spain – which has traditionally served as the standard bearer of Latin American interests in Brussels – also disengages, that could send the agreement with Mercosur definitively to the freezer.
Bilateral economic relations between the EU and Argentina are governed by the Trade and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which came into force in 1990. The EU is now Argentina’s third trading partner, after Brazil and China. The EU is also the leading investor in the Latin American country.
In 2023, total EU exports to Argentina (mainly machinery, household appliances and chemicals) amounted to €9.9 billion. For its part, Argentina’s exports to the EU (agricultural products, chemicals, fish and seafood) stood at 6.9 billion euros.
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