EU cites US-China rivalry in touting itself as stable ‘just' partner in Latin America
European Union officials used a major security conference in Brazil on Tuesday to present the bloc as a stable and predictable partner, citing growing instability tied to the strategic rivalry between the United States and China.
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Speaking at the Forte de Copacabana International Security Conference, Brian Glynn, the European External Action Service's managing director for the
Americas , said the EU was not seeking to distance itself from either power.
'The export-led, fossil fuel-driven economy is the past,' said Glynn, referencing China's growing trade presence in Latin America. 'What we share with Latin America is an agenda for a green, digital and just transition.'
Fire and smoke rise from where a Russian missile struck a residential area in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Saturday. The EU has cited closer ties between the Kremlin and China as a reason for bolstering its ties with the Global South. Photo: AP
Of the 'just' component, the senior EU envoy explained: 'We're not here to extract resources. We're here to build, together, a development agenda for this new economy – and to secure our own transition.'
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Over the past year, Brussels has been accelerating its outreach to Latin America and the Caribbean, bearing new pledges of financing and political cooperation aimed at positioning the EU as a long-term, values-based partner.
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