EU and South America countries conclude Mercosur trade deal

Update Argentina's President Javier Milei, Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Paraguay's President Santiago Pena pose for the family picture of the LXV Mercosur Summit in Montevideo on Dec. 6. (AFP)
Argentina's President Javier Milei, Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Paraguay's President Santiago Pena pose for the family picture of the LXV Mercosur Summit in Montevideo on Dec. 6. (AFP)
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Updated 06 December 2024
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EU and South America countries conclude Mercosur trade deal

Argentina's President Javier Milei, Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Pou, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Br
  • Agreement will create a sprawling free-trade zone of more than 700 million people
  • France, which opposes the deal, says the agreement would bring unfair competition for agriculture

MONTEVIDEO: The EU and four South American countries have concluded a huge, but controversial trade deal that is opposed by France and many European farmers, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced on Friday.
“This is a win-win agreement,” von der Leyen said in Uruguay, where she was attending a summit of the Mercosur bloc involved in the deal, which also includes Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.
The agreement would create a sprawling free-trade zone of more than 700 million people.
She called the agreement — nearly a quarter of a century in the making — “a truly historic milestone” that builds trade bridges at a time when “strong winds are blowing in the opposite direction, toward isolation and fragmentation.”
But the European farmers’ group COPA-COGECA immediately reiterated its opposition to the agreement and called for a “flash” protest in Brussels on Monday.
EU countries and the European Parliament “must now firmly challenge the terms of this agreement,” the umbrella organization said.
While negotiations have concluded, the EU-Mercosur deal still needs to be greenlit by at least 15 of the European Union’s 27 member nations representing 65 percent of the EU population, as well as the European Parliament.
France, which has been rocked by successive protests by farmers saying the agreement would bring unfair competition, has tried to forge a blocking minority of EU countries.
Poland has rallied to France’s side, and Italian government sources say Rome believes “the conditions are not met” to back the deal. The Netherlands and Austria have also expressed reservations.
France’s minister for trade, Sophie Primas, said that von der Leyen’s announcement “regards only her.”
“Today is not the end of the story.... This only commits the commission, not the (EU) member states,” she said in a statement to AFP.
But Germany, desperate to open more trade opportunities amid gloom for its manufacturing sector, had strongly come out in favor of the EU-Mercosur deal, as had Spain.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted to the announcement from von der Leyen — a former German defense minister — by saying on X that “an important hurdle” had been overcome.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hailed a “historic agreement with Mercosur to establish an unprecedented economic bridge between Europe and Latin America.”
The broad outlines of a deal were agreed back in 2019 but it was never ratified amid concerns over the impact of Brazilian farming on climate change, among other factors.
Von der Leyen nodded to that preoccupation, saying: “The EU-Mercosur agreement reflects our steadfast commitment to the Paris Agreement (on fighting climate change) and to the fight against deforestation.”
She said efforts being made by the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to protect the Amazon “are welcome, and they are necessary — but preserving the Amazon is a shared responsibility of all humanity.”
She also singled out European farmers, telling them: “We have heard you, listened to your concerns, and we are acting on them. This agreement includes robust safeguards to protect your livelihoods.”
The deal, once ratified, would allow the EU to export cars, machinery and pharmaceutical products more easily to South America.
In return, Brazil and its neighbors would be able to sell meat, sugar, rice, honey, soybeans and other products to Europe with fewer restrictions.
The treaty aims to eliminate most import taxes between the EU and Mercosur to create a vast free-trade area of more than 700 million consumers.
Sources familiar with the negotiations told AFP the deal would include changes to “several chapters,” including government contracts, services, intellectual property and the environment.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday had repeated a warning to von der Leyen that the agreement was “unacceptable in its current state.”


Russia blasts US reinstatement of Cuba on terror list

Updated 3 sec ago
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Russia blasts US reinstatement of Cuba on terror list

Russia blasts US reinstatement of Cuba on terror list
Trump on Monday reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism
The move is unjustified because Cuba is an active participant in “international cooperation on counter-terrorism,” Zakharova said

MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday slammed US President Donald Trump for reinstating its ally Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying the measure was aimed at destabilising the island and prompting regime change.
Trump on Monday reversed his predecessor Joe Biden’s decision to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that the newly-inaugurated Trump’s order was undoubtedly “aimed at further tightening financial and economic restrictions in the hopes of destabilising the situation and changing power in Cuba.”
The move is unjustified because Cuba is an active participant in “international cooperation on counterterrorism,” Zakharova said.
The US must realize such measures “have an extremely negative influence on the quality of life of the island’s population,” she added, suggesting it was aiming to provoke “social discontent.”
Russia will continue to provide “necessary support to Cuba” to back its demands for an “immediate and complete end” to the “illegal and inhumane” US blockade of the island, Zakharova said.
Russia and Cuba have strengthened ties since Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022 with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visiting last year.

Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland

Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
Updated 21 January 2025
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Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland

Denmark says no country can ‘just help themselves’ to Greenland
  • “Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump said
  • Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech

COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s foreign minister said Tuesday that no country should be able to simply help themselves to another country, following US President Donald Trump’s renewed remarks about taking control of Greenland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, set off alarm bells in early January by refusing to rule out military intervention to bring the Panama Canal and Greenland — which is an autonomous Danish territory — under US control.
“Of course we can’t have a world order where countries, if they’re big enough, no matter what they’re called, can just help themselves to what they want,” Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters Tuesday.
While he didn’t mention Greenland in his inauguration speech on Monday, Trump was asked about it by reporters in the Oval Office afterwards.
“Greenland is a wonderful place, we need it for international security,” Trump responded.
“I’m sure that Denmark will come along — it’s costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it,” he added.
Lokke said he was “satisfied” that Trump had not cited Greenland as a priority in his speech, but added that the “rhetoric” was the same.
“It doesn’t make me call off any crisis, because he said other things about expanding the American territory,” Lokke told Danish media.
Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede has insisted “that Greenland is not for sale” but that the territory was open to doing business with the US.
Among Danes, the omission of Greenland in the inauguration speech led to some relief.
“He didn’t mention Greenland or Denmark in his speech last night, so I think there’s room for diplomacy,” 68-year-old actor Donald Andersen told AFP.
On Monday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a post to Instagram that Europe would need to “navigate a new reality.”
While noting the Greenlandic people’s right to self-determination, the head of government also stressed the need for Denmark to maintain its alliance with the US — which she described as Denmark’s most important since World War II.
A number of Danish party leaders were called to the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to be briefed on the situation.
“We have to recognize that the next four years will be difficult years,” Pia Olsen Dyhr, leader of the Green Left, told reporters after meeting with Frederiksen.


Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting

Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting
Updated 21 January 2025
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Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting

Zelensky says Ukraine working to set up Trump meeting
  • “The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said
  • Trump has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how

DAVOS: Ukraine is working to set up a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, Zelensky said on Tuesday.
“The teams have been working on a meeting, they are currently in the process,” Zelensky said of efforts to arrange a meeting with Trump.
He was speaking in an interview panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Trump, who took office on Monday, has said he will stop the war in Ukraine swiftly without saying how.
Zelensky said Ukraine would not agree to Russian demands that it drastically reduce the size of its military, predicting that Russian President Vladimir Putin would demand Ukraine cut its military to a fifth its size.
“This is what he wants. We will not allow this to happen,” Zelensky said.
In his speech, Zelensky suggested Europe had less influence over Washington because the United States viewed its allies’ contribution to security as lacking.
“Does anyone in the United States worry that Europe might abandon them someday – might stop being their ally? The answer is no,” Zelensky said.


Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos

Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos
Updated 21 January 2025
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Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos

Zelensky urges ‘united’ European defense policy at Davos
  • Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player
  • “Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself“

DAVOS: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Europe should develop a joint defense policy and be willing to increase spending to guarantee its own security from emerging threats.
His comments to the World Economic Forum in Davos came a day after the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, who has demanded NATO members raise their defense spending and boasted he can end the war in Ukraine, without offering a clear roadmap.
Zelensky said Europe needed to be ready to stand on its own feet and must work to remain relevant as a “strong global” player and “indispensable” on the global stage.
“We need a united European security and defense policy, and all European countries must be willing to spend as much on security as is truly needed,” Zelensky argued in his address to the WEF.
“Europe must be able to guarantee peace and security for itself,” he added.
He evoked the Kremlin’s deployment of North Korean troops to western Russia to illustrate what he said were growing threats to European security.
“European leaders should remember this — battles involving North Korean soldiers are now happening in places geographically closer to Davos than to Pyongyang,” he said.
And he pointed to a recent pact between Russia and Iran boosting their economic and military cooperation, saying the accord was an example of a changing landscape that was a threat to Europe.
“Whom do they make such deals against? Against you, against all of us,” he said. “Such threats can only be countered together,” he added.
Zelensky also questioned whether Trump was committed to NATO and European security, claiming that Washington has openly indicated their security priorities lie in the Middle East and in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Will President Trump even notice Europe? Does he see NATO as necessary? And will he respect EU institutions?” Zelensky asked.


‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau

‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau
Updated 21 January 2025
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‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau

‘Canada will respond’ if US imposes tariffs: Trudeau
  • “Canada will respond and everything is on the table,” Trudeau told a news conference

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday vowed a strong response if Donald Trump slaps 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports, which the US president signaled could come as early as February.
“Canada will respond and everything is on the table,” Trudeau told a news conference, adding that Ottawa’s reaction would be “robust and rapid and measured,” but also match dollar for dollar the US tariffs.