Challenges on both sides of the Atlantic can be resolved through horizontal and integrated work, says Balas.
Rosa Balas, Chief Executive of External Action, said this morning at Yuste, that “challenges and difficulties on both sides of the Atlantic can be tackled and resolved through horizontal and integrated work”. She made the statements during the opening of the seminar on ‘Relations between the European Union and Latin America in the new international context’ organised by the Extremaduran Centre for Study and Cooperation with Ibero-America (CEXECI) and the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, in collaboration with the Ibero-American Secretary General, SEGIB, at Campus Yuste.
At the opening ceremony were Director of CEXECI, César Chaparro; Director of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation Juan Carlos Moreno; and the Mayor of Cuacos de Yuste, José María Hernández.
Balas confirmed how “important” the course is for CEXECI and the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, as it “represents the new spirit” of what will be, in “just a few weeks”, the new European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, resulting from the merger of both foundations, after 25 years of each one “working with a European and American vocation in Extremadura”.
The Extremaduran head of Exterior Action said how the merger is a response to the conviction that “challenges and difficulties on both sides of the Atlantic can only be tackled and resolved through horizontal and integrated work”, and the aim is for the new foundation to become a “benchmark for integration between Europe and Ibero-America”.
In this sense, Balas outlined how she works with the clear idea that “exterior action can only be understood through relations based on balance and mutual benefit”, and as such the seminar will examine “common goals on political agendas”, from the fight against climate change, to achieving gender equality, the fight against youth unemployment, and avoiding the digital divide between regions upon the digitalisation of societies and the economy.
During the seminar, directed by analyst and economic advisor Federico Ignacio Poli, there will be an in-depth analysis of the situation of commercial and investment relations between the European Union and Latin America in the international context opened up by the emergence of nationalist leaders in the developed world with the triumph of Brexit in Great Britain and Donald Trump in the United States. Some of the issues covered today and tomorrow will be the current situation and perspectives of the European Union; the United States in the Trump era and the impact on Latin America; commerce, investment, and integration in Latin America; and cooperation agreements between the European Union and Latin America; and the role of the Ibero-American community in a changing world. Speakers include the Costa Rican Ambassador in Spain, Doris Osterlof; Director of SEGIB Summits and Ex-Minister of Foreign Relations in Bolivia, Juan Ignacio Siles; MEP Elena Valenciano; and analysts and consultants from different institutions such as the World Bank; the Instituto para la Promocao da América Latina y Caraíbas; BCP Securities; Ecoanalítica and CEDES Argentina.
