Mogherini welcomes intensification of EU-Argentina relations

Relations between the European Union and Argentina have strengthened and become considerably more concrete over the past few months, and there is great potential for even deeper cooperation, according to EU i High Representative Federica Mogherini i.

Meeting the press with Argentinian Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra following a visit by a delegation led by President Mauricio Macri, the High Representative said that closer relations were already visible on three levels - globally, regionally and bilaterally.

“Let me highlight the fact that this is a very important and positive day for the relations between the European Union and Argentina,” Mogherini said. “This is the first presidential visit to Brussels in almost twenty years from the Argentinian side and this is not coming by chance. This is the result of seven months of dedication and energy that President Macri and all his administration have put in renewing, on a completely new ground, relations with a series of international partners starting from the European Union. I was myself visiting Buenos Aires in March, and hosting then Foreign Minister Malcorra here in Brussels a few months ago."

As a key result of the meeting, the European Investment Bank has expressed its intention to restart full activities in Argentina, Mogherini underlined. She said that the EU and Argentina are cooperating very closely with a view to the up-coming Argentinian presidency of the G20 i in 2018, as well as on migration.

“We welcome the role that Argentina is playing and will continue to play on sharing the responsibility at the global level on hosting refugees. Argentina has a history of welcoming migrants and it is honouring its traditions and history in the best possible way,” the High Representative said

The two sides are also cooperating on peace missions. Argentina is a very active player in UN peace missions and the EU will explore possibilities for Argentina to participate in EU CSDP missions. They also just signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow joint work in third countries on international cooperation.

Mogherini welcomed President Macri’s leadership in moving forward relations between the EU and Mercosur, which led to a relaunch of negotiations on the EU-Mercosur Agreement last month. The two sides exchanged market access offers in May and negotiators met recently and agreed to hold the first round of negotiations in October.

She also pointed out the practical cooperation at a bilateral level between the EU and Argentina on issues as diverse as energy, business, trade, investment, as well as climate change, urban and regional development, security of citizens and countering drug trafficking.

“We decided to concretely cooperate for the benefit of our people. We will deepen also our cooperation on energy efficiency and we will continue to work with this double approach: sharing a culture, sharing a friendship, sharing ties between us is the natural basis for our strong partnership and at the same time, focusing on the concrete deliverables, the concrete actions that we need to bring together in different fields of cooperation where actually our cooperation on foreign and security issues is only one part - even though it is a very important part,” Mogherini concluded.

Link to the video: http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I124046

Link to joint press release: http://www.eeas.europa.eu/statements-eeas/2016/160704_01.htm