2023-07-24 11:30:00
GEOPOLITICS – The countries of the European Union (EU) failed to have Russia condemned in the final declaration of the EU-Latin America summit, which took place on July 17 and 18 in Brussels (Belgium). Faced with Europeans determined to garner maximum support against Moscow, the 33 Latin American countries have not displayed a common position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, refusing to see this subject monopolize the discussions. The issue of slave trade reparations, another point of contention in the negotiations, was also not included in the final declaration as requested by the Caribbean states.
This is the third summit between the states of the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). The last was eight years ago, that is, 2015. The Europeans were hoping to catch up with the “wasted time” with an area “abandoned” for the benefit of China and Russia, but the summit, which was to serve the EU to “meeting old friends” et “strengthen its partnership” with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, has mainly made headlines because of the differences between the two blocs over the war in Ukraine.
At their Monday and Tuesday meeting in Brussels, the Europeans and Latin Americans put the issue back on the table, ignoring the frustration of some CELAC leaders at European insistence. The EU countries openly intended to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the final declaration, but the 33 Latin American countries do not have a common position on the issue.
Le Nicaragua inflexible
“We need our close friends by our side in these uncertain times,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said shortly before the start of the summit. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, for his part affirmed at the start of the meeting that “the illegal war waged by Russia is a tragedy for Ukraine and for the world”. The insistence of European countries and the declarations of their leaders have probably convinced the majority of Latin American leaders, except for one country, namely Nicaragua.
It was the Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar (former Young Global Leader) who revealed on Monday evening that “almost all countries in the EU, Latin America and the Caribbean” were ready to sign “a text clearly supporting Ukraine in its struggle for independence and freedom”, apart “one or two recalcitrants”. It would have been better “having no joint statement rather than wording that means nothing”, he castigated.
Information confirmed by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who added what “all selected members are aligned except Nicaragua (…) I respect the internal process of not outvoting a single member”. According to others sources, Cuba and Venezuela also opposed the adoption of a text condemning Russia. Mateusz Morawiecki, Polish Prime Minister, was more understanding of Latin American countries, calling Russia “d’empire colonial”. “Here in Europe, it’s hard to imagine, but in Latin America Russia is presented as a peaceful country that was attacked by NATO,” he commented. “I would say that with its aggressive policy, Russia pursues a colonialist policy and it is a colonial empire”, he added.
The European position is shared by the Chilean Foreign Minister, Alberto Van Klaveren, who quickly ruled out a possible agreement between the two blocs. “We are very surprised that there are members of our group who oppose a resolution on the war in Ukraine. This is a war of aggression”he said.
Positions that made the Prime Minister of Saint-Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, currently president of CELAC, react. “I can understand that the Member States of the European Union are concerned about the situation in Ukraine. But this summit must not become another useless battleground for discourses on this issue”, he justified.
The EU invests 45 billion in the Latin American region
10 days before the summit, the European Union proposed an initial text of the declaration containing several paragraphs of support for Ukraine. Central and Latin American countries rejected the EU proposals, suggesting a counter-proposal for text evoking colonial reparations for the slave trade. “The text on Ukraine was very balanced”, a affirmed a European diplomat. But CELAC member states “removed everything about Ukraine”.
The negotiations during the summit did not lead to the objective desired by the Europeans, that of condemning Russia. There final statement was thus adopted by 59 of the 60 countries, which agreed on a text expressing a “deep concern about the ongoing war against Ukraine”, without mentioning the role of Russia. “We express our deep concern over the ongoing war against Ukraine, which continues to cause immense human suffering and exacerbates existing fragilities in the global economy (…) In this sense, we support the need for a just and lasting peace”can we read.
A statement still welcomed by Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor. “It is remarkable that we have found a formulation that can rally a large number of people, which we perhaps did not expect in the past (…) I feel like there is a change on a global level. Russia is showing more and more that it has imperialist interests”he said.
The question of reparation for the slave trade does not appear in the joint statement either, which just mentions “the gratitude” and the “deep regret” of the “untold suffering inflicted on millions of men, women and children as a result of the transatlantic slave trade”.
This summit was also an opportunity for the EU to announce, through the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, an investment of 45 billion euros in the economy of the Latin American region, within the framework of the “Global Gateway” strategy, which constitutes a European response to the Chinese program of the “New Silk Roads”. Several agreements have been signed between the countries of the two blocks. The next EU-Latin America summit will take place in 2025, in Colombia.
#EULatin #America #summit #blocs #diverge #Russia #war #Ukraine