The European Union and Guatemala signed this Tuesday a memorandum of understanding on bilateral consultations This will strengthen relations between both parties, during a ceremony in Brussels in the presence of Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de León.
The document was signed by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, and Guatemala’s Foreign Minister, Carlos Ramiro Martínez Alvarado, and is intended to encourage funding a structured dialogue on a variety of topicsfrom the green transition to trade and investment.
“We are demonstrating with this declaration of intent a clear and firm will to strengthen our bilateral relations“We are establishing a bilateral, open and structured dialogue, as the EU does with all partners with whom it wants to have a privileged network,” Borrell said after signing the agreement.
The head of Community Diplomacy, who held a meeting with Arévalo after the ceremony, recalled that he had already spoken to him about this memorandum and its manner at his inauguration on January 14 EU-Guatemala relations to “flourish and develop” when he became president.
“It was not just any initiation, but it was transcendentalbecause the will of the Guatemalans has been brought to a successful end and it is now a great pleasure to receive him in Brussels,” said the Spanish politician.
Borrell emphasized that his visit was a sign of the commitment of the EU and its member states to the people of Guatemala and the USA “firm support for the president who was elected in the election and is now in office”.
The High Representative explained this “EU support was consistent from the start” and that the electoral mission sent to the presidential elections in Guatemala was able to confirm that they had taken place “in good order”.
He also referred to the sanctions imposed by the EU against Guatemala’s Attorney General, Consuelo Porras Argueta, and four others tried to prevent the takeover of Arévalo.
“We are not only concerned about what is happening in Ukraine, Middle East or our immediate neighborhood, but also how democracy and the rule of law are maintained in countries like Guatemala, which are geographically further away but are very close to us politically, culturally and historically,” he explained.
For his part, Martínez emphasized this The memorandum signed today will not only strengthen bilateral relations with the systematization of the dialogue, but will also be “a very important platform for developing a concrete long-term agenda based on shared values”.
He reiterated that this bilateral agenda covers the following wide variety of topics from trade to investments for development cooperation, the promotion of human rights, culture and education.
“We see great opportunities to work with the EU We will continue to strengthen our relationships in areas such as development projects under the Global Gateway Initiative, the EU’s global investment program, the minister said, as well as in the security agenda under the PAcCTO program and Guatemala’s accession to the Latin American Council for CLASI Security, which he hopes will happen the country will do in the next few days.
He also highlighted the collaboration opportunities that open up for us Strengthening the bilateral dialogue within the framework of the digital alliance The European Union.
“We hope to hold the first high-level meeting of the bilateral consultation mechanism soon.”concluded Martinez. Borrell emphasized that “we face many challenges that go beyond good governance and the rule of law.”