Brussels, 23 September 2025
Member of the European Parliament and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) Željana Zovko successfully integrated her amendments into the report on the EU political strategy on Latin America, which was voted today in the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The committee adopted Zovko’s amendment condemning the systematic persecution of civil society organizations, human right defenders and members of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua.
Moreover, the Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted amendments stressing that increasing EU investments in Latin America is all the more important because of the intensification of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Latin America, with Colombia recently signing up to the BRI.
Zovko also successfully included amendments highlighting that China’s presence in Latin American countries is creating economic dependencies that influence foreign policy directions of these countries.
The committee also adopted Zovko’s amendments underlining that Russia leverages the dependence of LAC countries concerning Russian fertilisers and diesel to increase its political influence. Regarding Russia, Zovko also included an amendment calling for the EU to step up its fight against Russian propaganda in the region and recalls the need for the EU to ensure EU delegations have the necessary means to counter disinformation.
The report also includes Zovko’s amendment calling the EU and Latin American countries to build on the successful examples of EU-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) cooperation such as the Memorandum of Understanding on integrated disaster risk management signed in 2024.
Zovko congratulated the rapporteur, Davor Ivo Stier, and thank him for incorporating her amendments in his report.