SNSPA vice-rector to CEISAL congress: Strong ties between EU and Latin American countries - key element

Vice-rector of the National University for Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) Victor Negrescu said in his Monday address, in the opening of the CEISAL congress in Bucharest, that the key element in the activity of the university is to promote strong ties between the European Union and Latin American countries. 

"In the past two years we have developed a masters program for Latin America. We have also developed research programs on these important subjects, because we consider that EU and Latin American countries should cooperate more intensely," Negrescu said. 

"We engaged in discussions with decision-makers, with the European Commissioner for Education, and we tried to show that there is a strong desire at European level to strengthen cooperation with Latin American countries. (...) Indeed, I have to say this very directly, in recent years cooperation between the European Union and Latin America has not been a top priority, especially here in Europe," Negrescu admitted. 

"Being your hosts is an honor for our school and for us," Ioan Mircea Pascu, one of the SNSPA founding members, told the participants in the congress. 

In his turn, former Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu stressed that "Romania is a special country as far as relations with Latin America are concerned" and spoke about Romania's initiatives during its term at the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

"This is a very long relationship and one of our presidency's priorities has been to strengthen and develop the dialogue between EU and Latin American and Caribbean countries, and rest assured that we will do everything in our power in order to develop this dialogue not just at the level of the EU, but also at bilateral level, through our embassies and missions," Melescanu said. 

The National University for Political Studies and Public Administration is organizing through the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Department of International Relations and European Integration the ninth CEISAL congress - "Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean: 1999-2019, 20 years of cooperation," running July 29 - July 31. 

The European Council for Social Research on Latin America (Consejo Europeo de Investigaciones Sociales de América Latina - CEISAL) is a network that brings together the main European centers and institutes dedicated to the study of Latin America.