Costa Rica and the European Union (EU) today strengthened their political and cooperation ties, as well as addressed the current challenges caused, among other factors, by the COVID-19 Pandemic and climate change.
During the fourth high-level dialogue, held virtually, both parties also identified and confirmed multiple points of convergence and promoted joint action in regional and multilateral forums, indicates a press release from the Tico Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, released in its Web page.
The two delegations reiterated the importance of supporting different initiatives to face the situation of the Pandemic, including accelerated access to the Repository to Technologies for combating COVID-19, the Fund to Alleviate the COVID-19 Economic crisis, and the strengthening of the World Health Organization COVAX protocol.
On regional and multilateral issues of common interest, the parties discussed the Central American integration process, because Costa Rica will assume the Pro-Tempore Presidency of that regional bloc in the first half of 2021 and equal responsibility of ECLAC held by this country until 2022.
They also talked about the Informal Meeting of EU-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) Foreign Ministers on December 14th in Berlin, called to send a strong public signal to renew and deepen the partnership between the two regions.
Combined effort
The Foreign Ministry indicates that this meeting will serve to combine efforts towards a sustainable recovery based on green growth, digitization and an inclusive economy. It maintains that the two parties underlined their commitment to continue defending and strengthening an effective and supportive multilateralism.
They discussed cooperation in the promotion, defense and strengthening of human rights in different international forums and applauded the progress in the negotiations on climate change.
The European Union and Costa Rica welcomed the important progress made during this dialogue and pledged to further develop the bilateral relationship, highlights the official text, adding that both parties agreed to hold the next political consultations in 2021 at Brussels, Belgium.
The Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs of Costa Rica, Christian Guillermet, chaired the Costa Rican delegation, while the Executive Director for the Americas of the European External Action Service of the European Union, Brian Glynn, was the official in charge from the Old Continent. (https://thecostaricanews.com/costa-rica-and-the-european-union-strengthen-political-ties-and-cooperation-amid-the-pandemic/)
