Külügyi Szemle - A Magyar Külügyi Intézet folyóirata - 2008 (7. évfolyam)
2008 / 3. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Szilágyi István: Az Európai Unió és Latin-Amerika: biregionális stratégiai szövetség
Résumé István Szilágyi: The European Union and Latin America: a bi-regional strategic alliance In the global context of international relations, bilateral ties between the European Union and Latin America intensified notably during the last two decades of the 20th century. In the 1980s, the European Parliament set the cooperation with developing countries, especially of the Latin American region, as one of its strategic aims. Following the accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Union, this cooperation took the form of an incentive, mostly with Spanish coordination, to build economic, political and cultural relations, and reach a status of affiliated membership. By 1999, the intensification of these relations had resulted in the institutionalization of the partnership between the European Union and the Latin American countries in the form the Ibero-American Summits with the participation of the heads of states of the two region. Since the first Ibero-American Summit, organized in 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, the strategic alliance between the European Union and Latin America has evolved in various institutional forms: biregional summits, cooperation with the diverse subregional organizations (the Andean Community of Nations, Mercosur, Union of South American Nations) and interregional entities (Ibero-American Community of Nations), as well as diverse development programs with mutual participation. The strategic partnership between Latin American countries and the European Union is also consolidated by the common history, values, culture and political aims embraced by the partners, as well as the shared ambitions of protecting democracy and consolidating a multipolar international community. Currently, an important facet of the strategic partnership is the ambition to attenuate the asymmetrical characteristics of economic relations between the partners. The intensification of bonds between the two regions also has a serious impact in the evolution of international relations. 2008. ősz 33
