President Boric at EU-CELAC Summit 2023: “What is happening in Ukraine is an unacceptable war of imperial aggression”
In his speech at the plenary session, the Chilean leader called on the nations present to ensure unconditional respect for international law and human rights.
As part of his participation in the EU-CELAC Summit 2023, President Gabriel Boric gave a speech at the plenary session outlining Chile’s vision on its relationship with the European Union, and the progress that must be made to continue consolidating this roadmap.
In his speech, the Chilean leader highlighted the importance of the ties that unite Latin America and the Caribbean with Europe.
In that regard, President Boric emphasized the importance of ensuring “unconditional respect for human rights, regardless of the government that is in power. As such, I feel obliged to say that situations like those occurring in Nicaragua today or the terrible crisis that has led to the exodus of more than six million Venezuelans, over one million of which have settled in Chile, should not be tolerated in Latin America or anywhere else in the world.”
“We have to work together to find a way of resolving this issue and not exacerbating the problem. For that reason, we must clearly state that sanctions that are imposed unilaterally are not contributing to the solution.”
Secondly, with regard to the war in Ukraine, President Boric noted that progress must be made toward unconditional respect for international law.
“We see it in different places around the world, but today, here, the debate has been focused on the situation in Ukraine. I think it’s important that in Latin America we say it clearly: what is happening in Ukraine is a war of imperial aggression which violates international law. And I understand that the joint declaration is blocked today because some do not want to say that it is a war against Ukraine,” he said.
“Today it is Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be any of us. We mustn’t hesitate because of the affinity that may exist with a leader of a country. It doesn’t matter if the president of a country is liked or disliked; the important thing is respect for international law, and here international law has clearly been violated not by two parties, but by one invader, which is Russia. I think it’s important that we say it clearly in order to make progress on agreements,” he emphasized.
Finally, President Boric valued the successful negotiations to modernize the existing EU-Chile Association Agreement, noting that “I hope and urge, as several previous presidents have also said, that the same type of agreement can be reached with Mercosur countries and also with Mexico, so that we can move from statements of intent to concrete progress.”