Valparaiso, 25/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The German Social Democrat Rolf Linkohr spoke on behalf of the European Parliament delegation at the opening of the fifteenth European Union-Latin America interparliamentary conference, which is unfolding in Valparaiso, at the seat of the Chilean Parliament.
On this occasion Mr Linkohr felt that the regional integration process in Latin America must evolve from economic cooperation, towards a more political terrain and, when welcoming the results of the recent Summit of the Americas in Quebec, he felt that it should not be kept to free trade, but that it is necessary to also create a political area. Furthermore, Mr Linkohr regretted that, since it has been absorbed with the eastern enlargement process, the EU has paid less attention to its relations with Latin America. According to him, the Valparaiso conference offers an opportunity to correct this dangerous trend which, according to him, only serves to punish peace in the region.
Furthermore, the European and Latin American MPs raised the role of the media in the democratic systems, and the German Social Democrat Wolfgang Kreissl-Dorfler spoke on this theme on behalf of the Parliament rapporteur, the Portuguese Socialist Antonio Seguro.
The conference, which has occurred every two years since 1974, gathers together MEPs and members of the Parlatino, the Latin American Parliament (see EUROPE of 21 April, p.4).