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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

Olaf Scholz is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party (GSDP).

From December 2021, he emphasized that it is important to revive the stalled negotiations for a free trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries, BTA reported.

"The negotiations have already gone on long enough," Scholz said after meeting with Argentine President Alberto Fernandez in Buenos Aires, the first stop on his four-day visit to Argentina, Chile and Brazil.

"That is why it is now important that everyone contributes in a constructive spirit, that we work together and find a way to quickly bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion," Scholz added.

Olaf Scholz begins his first tour of South America

Fernandez said he and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had reached an agreement on the matter.

"We want to push this agreement and make it work. It will benefit Latin America and in particular Mercosur, it will benefit Europe. It will also strengthen multilateralism in a world that is once again bipolar," said the Argentine president.

During Scholz's meeting with Fernandez, cooperation agreements in the field of start-ups and the energy sector were also signed.

The second agreement mainly concerns green hydrogen.

Scholz, who has been looking for alternative energy sources since the disruption of supplies from Russia due to the war in Ukraine, has also expressed interest in Argentine liquefied natural gas.

Argentina has one of the largest deposits of shale gas in the world, but extraction is difficult, DPA notes.

The two leaders also discussed the situation in Ukraine.

Fernandez stressed that, unlike Germany, Argentina has no plans to supply weapons to Kyiv.

"Argentina and Latin America are not thinking of sending weapons to Ukraine or any other country in conflict," the leftist leader said.

From Buenos Aires, Scholz will leave today for Chile, after which he will make a two-day visit to Brazil, the largest and most densely populated country in South America.

Since 1999, the EU has been negotiating a free trade agreement with the Mercosur countries - Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Although a mutual agreement in principle was reached in 2019, some outstanding issues still remain, particularly on the protection of the Amazon rainforest, large parts of which have been cleared for cattle ranching and agriculture.

If finalized, the agreement could create a market of more than 700 million people that accounts for almost 20% of the world's economy and 31% of global merchandise exports, making it the world's largest free trade area.

Olaf Scholz

Latin America