The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, defended this Thursday that the Government of Spain «will push» for Mexico to sign a trade agreement with the European Union similar to the one recently renewed with Chile, where it was also incorporated to adapt relations to new challenges such as the fight against climate change.
In statements to the media with his Mexican counterpart, Marcelo Ebrard, after the XIII Meeting of the Binational Commission Mexico-Spain, the Minister said that the Government demonstrates with this meeting the «specificity» of relations with this Latin American country, which maintain, in his opinion, an «excellent health» and also «a mutual strategic commitment» that includes the «will to relaunch this link».
From Mexico, Albares explained that both governments will relaunch «cooperation projects», especially in Central America «to have a positive impact on the societies of the region» and announced that Spain will be guest of honor at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, as well as an agreement to organize in our country an exhibition of pre-Hispanic cultures of Mexico.
In this context, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has advanced that, during the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2023, the Executive will «push» the presence of Latin America «in the heart of Europe» and has advocated for the global agreement between Mexico and the EU to «finish advancing and can be signed» so that «it is mutually beneficial» as happened with that of Chile and Mercosur.
Likewise, he expressed the gratitude of «democratic Spain» for the «extraordinary welcome» to the citizens exiled by the Civil War and Francoism and also defended the common language that both nations have, for which they will work to consolidate it as a «vehicle for international cooperation».
The Minister has claimed the good harmony between Spain and Mexico with relations that, in his opinion, «year by year are growing» and are impossible to «pause» because both countries are «two brothers» who share citizens who «cross the Atlantic». «We want a work program of ambitious action to emerge so that Europe does not live with its back turned to Latin America», he stressed.
For his part, the Mexican Foreign Minister defined the meeting as «a great success» because it has served for both nations to agree on «common actions» and has reactivated their «vast» network of joint cooperation.
«It is a success because it will allow us to move forward very soon, quickly and at a good pace in the bilateral relations of our peoples», the Mexican Minister concluded.
Ebrard confirmed that, if everything goes according to plan, the next Meeting of the Mexico-Spain Binational Commission will be held in 2024 in Madrid, and he praised the holding of this meeting after seven years.
With a view to the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2023, Ebrard stressed that he hopes that the modernization of the agreement between Mexico and the EU can materialize. He has also bet on creating a mixed fund for Central America and promoting «everything that has to do with education, universities, culture and science».
MEXICO’S RELATIONSHIP WITH PERU Asked about the situation in Peru, the top representative of Mexican diplomacy avoided commenting on the matter, although he insisted that the Andean nation is going through «a very complex process». «We will continue with our tradition of non-intervention and the right to asylum», he said.
Mexico’s support for former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has aroused unease in Lima, where some parliamentarians have even advocated breaking diplomatic relations and declaring Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador ‘persona non grata’.
