The head of the German Government, the social democrat Olaf Scholzreceived this Sunday in Berlin the Argentine president, Javier Milei, who meets for the first time during a trip abroad with a counterpart from a different political background. Milei arrived at the chancellery at 12:00 noon (10:00 GMT) for a brief meeting in the presence of both delegations, scheduled to last approximately one hour, after the military honors and the planned press conference had been cancelled. initially.
It’s about the Milei’s first official meeting with a sign head of government social democrat in the six months since he took office as president, although the format does not correspond to the usual reception for a foreign leader in Berlin.
“Is a very short business meetingat the wish – I say this expressly – of the Argentine president,” explained on Friday a spokesman for the German Executive, Steffen Hebestreit, who also noted that he had rejected in unequivocal terms the possibility of holding a joint press conference.
Milei, what received a medal on Saturday in Hamburg of the neoliberal Hayek Societytook advantage of this ceremony to charge against the “socialists”, who, according to what he told him, are attacking him “so violently” precisely because his recipe for radical adjustment is working and the Argentine economy is beginning to recover. In front of the chancellery in Berlin, several dozen activists gathered to protest against the visit of the Argentine head of government with banners of “Out with Milei” and shouts of “Milei, trash, you are the dictatorship.”
What was discussed at the meeting?
The German head of government stressed in his working meeting with the Argentine president the importance of the reforms undertaken in the South American country being socially compatible and preserving social cohesion, according to the German Executive.
“The chancellor and President Milei spoke about the Argentine reform goals and their repercussions for the population. In this sense, the chancellor stressed that from his point of view the social compatibility of reforms and the protection of social cohesion“said the German Government in a brief statement about the meeting. The two leaders also addressed the negotiations for a trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the Mercosur states.
“They agreed that the treaty talks should be completed quickly“said the German Government, which indicated its support for Argentina’s possible entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an issue that was also addressed. The statement also alluded to Milei’s presence at the summit of peace meeting held last week in Switzerland on the war in Ukraine, which Scholz also attended.
“Also in today’s conversation they agreed that Russia has it in its hands to end the war of aggression against Ukraine“the statement stressed. The brief working meeting, lasting approximately one hour, revolved around “the entire range of bilateral relations”, including economic, trade, renewable energy and global climate protection issues.
Argentina is “among Germany’s most important” trading partners in Latin America and both countries are united by “long-lasting and close” ties, also within the G-20, the German government said. This is the first time that Milei meets with a social democratic head of government during a visit abroad.
