BRASILIA, 06 November 2021, (TON): Señor ministro [de Asuntos Exteriores de Brasil, Carlos Alberto Franco França, señor secretario general [de Relaciones Exteriores, Fernando Simas Magalhães], thank you very much for your warm welcome.

Thank you to the Minister and also to the whole team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in particular to the Secretary General of Foreign Affairs Mr Fernando Simas Magalhães.

Last time that a High Representative of the European Union came to Brazil was nine years ago. Too long. Way too long. Nine years without a high-level visit at the diplomatic level shows that we, Europeans, have not been taking care enough of the importance that Brazil has as a big geopolitical player.

I am very happy to be here. I was here fifteen years ago as President of the European Parliament and now I am coming back in my capacity of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and I came to reaffirm the strategic importance that we, in the European Union, attach to our relations with Latin America in general and with Brazil in particular.

Brazil is a strategic partner for the European Union. Why so? In fact, we have been long strategic partners since 2007 across all political areas. We are Brazil’s second largest trading partner. Brazil is actually the single biggest exporter of agricultural and food products to the European Union. We are the biggest investor in Brazil. And Brazil is the largest and most important market for the European Union in Latin America.