:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/CLG7GU6O7BCMREXJ2GPV4AHHDY.jpg "Lula assumes the presidency of Mercosur and is committed to closing the agreement with the European Union this year")
The mandatary Brazilian, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silvareceived this Tuesday the pro tempore presidency of the mercosur from the hands of his Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernandezand it was marked as a priority objective to close “this semester” an agreement “definitive” with the European Union (EU).
Fernández handed over the baton mercosurwhich also integrate Paraguayan and Uruguaythe progressive leader and closed the LXII Summit of Heads of State of the South American group, which was held in a luxurious hotel in Puerto Iguazú, which is home to the famous waterfalls.
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Lula stressed that Mercosur (Argentina, BrazilUruguay and Paraguay) has ahead “commitments that cannot be postponed” and cited the negotiations with the Twenty-seven.
“We need to conclude the Mercosur-EU agreement”, asserted the progressive leader.
In this sense, he reported that on Wednesday, he plans a telephone conversation with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchezwho has just assumed the presidency of the European bloc, to address and begin to unlock the dialogue.
Lula declared that they will send Mercosur’s response to the new letter of environmental commitments attached by the community bloc to the agreement reached in 2019 with the intention of closing “this semester a definitive agreement”.
The meeting in iguazu supposed the return of Lula, a reference of the Latin American left, to a summit of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) after 13 years of absence.
For his part, Fernández pointed out that he is handing over the semi-annual presidency of the South American bloc to a “great president and a friend admired by all Argentines”.
“In your hands is the responsibility of leading this time of Mercosur with the ideals and political conviction that have always characterized you.”, he expressed at the ceremony.
“I want you to know that your challenges are our challenges and I will accompany you with courage in this semester.”, said Fernández, who says goodbye to the bloc’s summits, since he is not running for re-election and will hand over the command on December 10 to whoever wins the elections next October.
Brazil, the largest power in Latin Americawill hold the rotating presidency of the group until December, which Argentina held in the last six months of the year, with the mission of unlocking trade negotiations with the European Union (EU).
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Mercosur and the EU reached a general agreement in 2019, after two decades of talks, but the ratification process has been halted in the face of new demands from both blocs.
The dealings with the Twenty seven They have been the main issue in this meeting in which the leaders of the four full members of the bloc participated in person, for the first time since 2019: Alberto Fernandez (Argentina), Lula (Brazil), Mario Abdo Benitez (Paraguay) and Luis Lacalle Pou (Uruguay).
The Bolivian ruler, Luis Arceassociated state and in the process of accession, and the elected president of Paraguay, santiago penawho will take office on August 15.
Source: Elcomercio
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