President of Parliament Wescot-Williams attending Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly

SINT MAARTEN/BELGUIM - The President of Parliament, the Hon. Sarah A. Wescot-Williams, is currently participating in the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat) meetings, taking place from December 1–3, 2025, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

On December 1, 2025, President Wescot-Williams, together with the Presidents of the Parliaments of Aruba and Curaçao, and other representatives of Latin America and the Caribbean, attended a preparatory meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean component of the EuroLat Assembly.

During this session, the copresidents of the EuroLat Committees provided updates ahead of the Committee meetings scheduled for December 2, 2025. The Latin American and Caribbean component also reflected on the recently held 4th EU–CELAC Summit of Heads of State and Government, which took place in Santa Marta, Colombia, on November 9, 2025, and addressed topics such as inclusive digitalization; climate financing and the protection of strategic ecosystems; cooperation on climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction; the promotion of fair and sustainable trade; human mobility; and the management of migration flows.

In the afternoon, the EuroLat meetings were formally opened with an inaugural address by Ms. Belén Martínez Carbonell, Secretary-General of the European External Action Service.

The ceremony also included opening remarks by the President of the European component of the EuroLat Assembly, the President of the Latin American component, and the Vice-President of the European Parliament. This was followed by a keynote address delivered by Mr. Jordan Schwartz, Executive Vice-President of the Inter-American Development Bank.

Collectively, the speeches underscored the need for strengthened partnerships in the current global context, the importance of and the ongoing EU cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries, the growing threats to democracy and the vital role of parliamentary work, advancements in digitalization, as well as the need to work together for greater progress of these regions.

EuroLat is a multilateral parliamentary assembly that serves as a forum for dialogue among various parliaments. It is composed of 150 members: 75 from the European Parliament and 75 from Latin American regional parliaments, including Parlatino, Parlandino, Parlacen, Parlasur, and the national Congresses of Chile and Mexico.