Brazil envoy: EU-Latin America summit not about Ukraine but regional partnership

The EU-Latin America summit this week will not be overshadowed by the Europeans’ preoccupation with the war in Ukraine, Brazil’s EU ambassador Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva told EURACTIV.

His comments come as leaders of 33 Community of Latin American and Caribbean States countries were due to meet their EU counterparts for a joint summit in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday (17-18 July).

“Our expectation, as Brazil and as Latin American and Caribbean countries, is that we focus on the bi-regional issues,” Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva said.

“We are a diverse region with diverse needs,” Brazil’s envoy underlined.

It is the first such gathering in eight years, after years of European neglect towards the region and the return of Brazil to the world stage with the election of Socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last autumn after a dysfunctional relationship under Jair Bolsonaro’s presidency.

‘Not everything about Ukraine’

Brazil’s envoy stressed that the “important issue of the war in Ukraine” could come up during the summit and in bilateral meetings, but “it’s important to say, first, that this is not a summit about Ukraine”.

As EURACTIV reported last week, a Latin American counter-proposal was met with surprise and scepticism by several EU member states, as it no longer featured explicit wording on support for Ukraine or emphasised Latin American states’ protection of the environment but instead was toned down and called for colonial reparations.

“The EU text was a text that addresses the interests of the EU – so of course, the CELAC countries put on the table a counterproposal on their views on what they want from the relations from the EU,” da Costa e Silva said. 

“If there was a surprise from the EU side, there was a surprise from the CELAC side on the [draft declaration sent] by the EU,” he added.

While some EU diplomats believe there is a chance that there might not be a joint summit declaration after seeing the CELAC’s counter-proposal, da Costa e Silva stayed optimistic, saying both sides “will have to find language that is acceptable for all”.

Over the past year, Europeans have sought to reinforce ties with their Latin American partners to rally support for upholding the international rules-based order Russia attacked with its invasion of Ukraine.

Condemning Russia’s violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, Lula has pitched himself as a peace broker to end the war, presenting a peace plan, one of several circulating, while EU officials stress only Ukraine can decide upon modalities of such a peace.

Asked whether Brazil would clarify its stance on the war in Ukraine in talks with the Europeans, Brazil’s envoy said he “does not think that that the Europeans are going to ask to clarify anybody’s positions [on this issue]”.

Nicaragua is the only Latin American country that has voted against the last two UN resolutions to condemn Russia’s annexation of oblasts in Ukraine (Bolivia and Cuba abstained) and calling for a “just and lasting” peace (Bolivia, El Salvador and Cuba abstained).

Global Gateway

Brazil’s expectations from the summit itself are “a new phase in the relationship bi-regional relationship with the EU”, Pedro Miguel da Costa e Silva said.

This should include “more concrete proposals and projects — bi-regional projects that benefit our countries and our societies that are defined together”, he added.

The EU has launched a series of infrastructure investments worldwide under the Global Gateway, a €300 billion scheme with which Brussels aims to offer developing countries an alternative to China’s strategic largesse in the Belt and Road Initiative.

However, the Global Gateway “should be more informed about the needs of the countries in the region,” Brazil’s envoy underlined, hinting that the undergoing projects don’t meet the population’s current needs.

“Global Gateway is a good idea, it has potential”, but projects in Brazil “were not built together with the Brazilian government”, he said. In 2023, the European Commission launched two projects on deforestation and 5G connectivity.

“I hope that it [will have] more resources and that it will be built jointly with us,” da Costa e Silva said, adding this view is shared by other countries across the region.

Brazil’s EU envoy said his country is “very much interested” in European investment, “be it in the form of foreign direct investment or partnerships”, mentioning clean energy, sustainable development, science and technology, infrastructure, critical minerals, the digital agenda.

“The EU has its views on what it wants, from its relationship with the Latin American and the Caribbean, and we have our views on what we want from our relationship with the EU,” he said.

Mercosur agreement

The joint summit comes a couple of weeks after Mercosur countries cancelled trade talks with the EU after the bloc presented additional environmental demands.

It also comes as national parliaments have raised voices against the agreement, such as in France and Germany.

Asked about the deadlock, Brazil’s envoy said such back and forth would be “part of the game”.

“There will always be those for the agreement and those against, and there are many people who have another agenda, some of them have protectionist agendas, others don’t really know the agreement, or understand but don’t like agreements in general,” he said.

“At the end of the day, I believe we will have a balanced and mutually interesting result, (…) that we can adopt this agreement,” he said.

According to Brazil’s envoy, further meetings with the EU side are planned for the end of July and August to work on the deal.

He said Brazil is “committed and interested in a balanced agreement” but added that “the concept of working based on sanctions and punishment is something that we don’t see positively”.

[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Alice Taylor]