BRUSSELS – The European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council discussed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean and Latin American countries. The EU must therefore come to the aid of this region to alleviate the financial and economic consequences, the minister of Foreign Affairs said.
In a letter to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok reports on the meeting that took place in Luxembourg. “With regard to Latin America and the Caribbean, the Council was unanimous. The countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are improtant partners of the EU, including in a multilateral context. The intervening Member Stats all pointed to the enormous impact of the COVID pandemic in the region. The EU must prove itself to be a reliable partner in these times by strenghtening ties with the region and helping the region mitigate as far as possible the financial and economic consequences of the pandemic. The EU has already contributed to this through the Team Europe commitment.
Economic damage can ultimately also lead to democratic restrictions and human rights violations. The HR and several Member States underlined the importance of the EU-Mercosur treaty. The Netherlands, like several other member states, pointed out the importance of sustainability in the discussion.”
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrel reported on the recent mission to Venezuela by the European External Action Service (EEAS). Blok wrote to the Chamber about this. “The mission was to convince the regime of the necessity to postpone the parliamentary elections because safe and fair elections cannot be guaranteed at the moment.
In addition, the EEAS asked the regime to extend the mandate of the current parliament until new elections have taken place. The regime has since announced in a press release that it will not postpone the elections in principle. Extension of the mandate of parliament is also not negotiable for the regime. Some member states called on the HR to make every effort to send an election observation mission to Venezuela. Other member states, including the Netherlands, emphasized that further sanctions should not be ruled out.”
Source link : https://www.curacaochronicle.com/post/local/european-union-wants-to-help-the-caribbean-and-latin-america/
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Publish date : 2020-10-16 03:00:00
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