Today (25 February) Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle met for talks with the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Nicaragua, Samuel Santos.

Westerwelle stressed the German Government’s willingness to further intensify relations with Nicaragua. Foreign Minister Santos described the enormous demand for energy in the entire region of Central America. In this area, Nicaragua was focusing on environmentally-friendly and renewable energy sources. Westerwelle pointed out that German companies were global leaders in the energy sector, and that Nicaragua could profit from cooperation with Germany.

Within the EU, Germany would work to advance the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the Central American states on an Association Agreement, Westerwelle stated. The goal of the agreement is to strengthen political dialogue and cooperation and, in particular, to intensify economic and trade relations between the two regions.

During the talks, Federal Minister Westerwelle underscored the German Government’s firm intention to make deepening relations with the states of Latin America a major priority. The foundation for this was not just a broad base of similar interests; the partnership and friendship between Europe and the Latin American states was also founded on a common political, historical and cultural heritage.