Uruguay's Foreign Minister, Mario Lubetkin, has urged the European Union to seize what he calls a historic opportunity by completing the ratification of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, warning that Europe risks ceding influence in Latin America to China and other global powers if the deal stalls.
Speaking to Euronews during a visit to Brussels, Lubetkin, whose country has just assumed the rotating presidency of Mercosur, described the agreement as a "quality change" in relations between Europe and South America and insisted that the bloc has already fulfilled its part of the bargain.
