The Diplomat
The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, was received yesterday in Madrid by King Felipe VI, who assured that Spain, as a “bridge between the European Union and Chile”, offers itself as a “solid ally” for the initiatives that require its support “at the European level”.
Piñera arrived yesterday in Madrid as part of a tour of several European countries (Italy, France and the United Kingdom) with the main objective of advancing in the current negotiations for the modernization of the Association Agreement with the European Union.
The Chilean President met at the Moncloa Complex with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, with whom he discussed progress in the fight against COVID-19 and vaccination plans, negotiations with the European Union and the need to deepen the fight against climate change, according to the Chilean Presidency.
Subsequently, Piñera was received in audience by the King at the Zarzuela Palace. During the audience, which lasted longer than expected – and which was also attended by the Secretary of State for Latin America and the Caribbean and Spanish in the World, Juan Fernández Trigo; the Spanish Ambassador to Chile, Enrique Ojeda; the Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrés Allamand; and the Chilean Ambassador to Spain, Roberto Ampuero -, the President and the King made an exhaustive review of the bilateral relationship between Chile and Spain, “including the Spanish support for the association agreement with the European Union”, according to the same source.
According to La Moneda, the meeting led to “an in-depth analysis of the socio-political situation in Latin America, with special attention to Venezuela and Nicaragua”, and continued with other priority issues, such as the evolution of the pandemic, economic recovery, climate change and the need to protect the environment and increase environmental ambition, in line with the Paris Agreement and in view of COP 26 in Glasgow.
After this meeting, King Felipe and Queen Letizia offered a lunch in honor of Piñera at the Royal Palace in Madrid, which was attended by Pedro Sánchez, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, and his Chilean counterpart. During his speech prior to the luncheon, the King stressed that “Chile and Spain have proven to be, over the years, even more than two countries united by deep historical, cultural and linguistic ties”.
“Ours are societies that are very close and sensitive to each other, with a significant investment presence, and with immense potential ahead,” he continued. “This explains why Spain exercises, with pleasure and so naturally, its vocation as a bridge between the European Union and Chile, thus becoming a solid ally of all initiatives that may require our support at the European level”, he added.
The Association Agreement with European Union has been in force since 2003 and negotiations for its modernization began in 2017, under the presidency of Michelle Bachelet. Since then, a dozen rounds of negotiations have been held, but an agreement has not yet been closed despite the fact that the parties hoped to achieve it in the first half of 2021. Spain has repeatedly called for the formalization of this agreement and the other two that the European Union has pending with Latin America: the modernization agreement with Mexico and the Mercosur agreement with Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The European Union is currently Chile’s third largest trading partner and the leading foreign investor (FDI) in the country.
Pedro Sánchez previously met with Piñera in August 2018, during his first trip outside the EU. Apart from that, King Emeritus Juan Carlos I attended the president’s inauguration in March 2018 and Piñera made his last official visit to Spain in October 2018, as part of his first international tour of Europe since his inauguration.
