French Minister Seeks Latin American Cooperation

French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné met in Buenos Aires with Argentine President Javier Milei, pledging the potential for "constructive dialogue" and "cooperation" with Latin America, regardless of an EU-EU trade deal. Mercosur, which Paris is opposed to.

 Séjourné, for a first trip to Latin America which will also take him to Brazil, was received by the ultraliberal president, in the presence of his head of diplomacy Diana Mondino, for about an hour at the Casa Rosada (presidency), a diplomatic source indicated.

Ukraine, the EU-Mercosur agreement (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay) still under negotiation, was mentioned during this meeting, the minister insisting that the absence of a trade agreement "does not close the door to other things" in terms of exchanges and cooperation, the same source said.

“France is opposed to signing the agreement as it stands, because it no longer meets the demands of our time,” Séjourné then recalled to the press, after a new meeting , this time with Ms. Mondino.

“The expectations of our fellow citizens in terms of climate, environment, and health are legitimate and fair, and we must work to meet them and be at the level of the ambitions that we set with the Mercosur countries.”

France reiterated its opposition to signing the deal currently under negotiation in January, an announcement aimed at placating protests from French farmers who reject it.

Ms Mondino, for her part, said she "does not know if it will be possible" to reach an "optimal" Mercosur-EU agreement that would satisfy all parties. “Maybe in the end we will have to split it into several small parts,” she said.

Séjourné will then travel to Brazil, where he will participate in a meeting with his G20 counterparts in Rio de Janeiro.