German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed the importance of putting the stalled negotiations on a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur states back on track.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (center) sits next to Jörg Kukies
"The negotiations have already lasted long enough," Scholz said after meeting with Argentinian President Alberto Ángel Fernández in Buenos Aires on Saturday, during the first stop of a four-day visit to Argentina, Chile and Brazil.
"That is why
it is important that everyone now makes a contribution in a constructive spirit, that we work together and find a way to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion soon," Scholz added.The EU has been negotiating a trade agreement with the Mercosur states - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay - since 1999. While an agreement in principle was achieved in 2019, some questions still remain, especially regarding the protection of the rainforest in the Amazon region, wide swathes of which have been cleared for cattle breeding and agricultural use.
An agreement would create a market of more than 700 million people, covering almost 20% of the world economy and 31% of global goods exports - in what would be the biggest free trade zone worldwide.
Scholz expressed optimism that an agreement could be reached. "I have discovered good spirit and good will here," he said in Buenos Aires, during what is his first visit to the region since taking office at the end of 2021.
Fernández said he and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva agreed on the issue: "We want to push this agreement and make it work. It would benefit Latin America and Mercosur in particular, it would benefit Europe, and it would also strengthen multilateralism in a world that is about to become bipolar again."
During the meeting between Scholz and Fernández, two agreements were also signed on cooperation in the start-up and energy sector.
The latter mainly concerns green hydrogen, but Scholz, who is looking for alternative energy supplies in the wake of Russian cuts amid the war in Ukraine, also expressed interest in Argentinian liquefied gas.
Fernández said Argentina intended to "become a secure gas producer in the world" and expand its capacities. Argentina has one of the largest shale gas deposits in the world. But extraction is difficult and the fracking technology used is viewed as controversial.
There is also a lack of infrastructure for distribution in the country and for export abroad.
The two leaders also discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Unlike Germany, Fernández stressed, Argentina was not planning to deliver weapons to Kiev.
"Argentina and Latin America are not thinking of sending arms to Ukraine or any other country in conflict," the left-wing president said.
According to media reports, the US have asked several Latin American countries to provide Ukraine with Soviet-built weapons.
At the UN General Assembly last March, Argentina, Brazil and Chile were among a total of 141 countries that condemned Russia's war against Ukraine. Of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, only Bolivia, El Salvador and Cuba abstained at the time. None of them voted against condemning the war.
From Buenos Aires, Scholz is scheduled to travel to Chile on Sunday, followed by a two-day visit to Brazil, the continent's largest and most populous country.
There Scholz will meet the left-wing President Lula, who was sworn in on January 1 after winning a run-off election in October against Jair Bolsonaro.
On January 8 thousands of rioters attacked Brazil's Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace in Brasília refusing to acknowledge Bolsonaro's defeat to Lula.
Hundreds were arrested and Lula vowed to get to the bottom of the riot's causes.
By Michael Fischer and Martina Farmbauer
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