Invited by the 10th Annual Conference of the European Council of Investigations on Latin America (CEISAL) in Helsinki, Dr Adrián Bonilla, the Executive Director of the EU-LAC International Foundation participated as a speaker in the panel “Latin America studies in Europe: Applying area studies in a multipolar world.” The visit was also used to hold meetings with key stakeholders of the Foundation regarding its internal procedures and the planning of activities.
The 10th CEISAL conference was organised between June 13 and 15, and the conference programme included over 80 symposia that showed the great amount of social research about Latin America and the Caribbean in Europe. The Executive Director of the EU-LAC Foundation took part in a panel on June 14 together with Rubén Ruiz of UNAM, Karina Batanaya, Executive Secretary of CLACSO, Andras Lenart, President of FIAL (International Federation of Latin America), Martina Kaler, President of the ICA (International Conference of America), and Manuel Alcántara, professor at the University of Salamanca. It was moderated by Jussi Pakkasvirta, Professor of Area and Cultural Studies and President of CEISAL2022 Helsinki. In his intervention, Dr Bonilla stressed the importance of the analysis of global phenomena and their effects on social logic as one of the most important tasks that should be undertaken by research centres. He illustrated how the common agenda of Latin America and the Caribbean, and the European Union is closely entangled with all the collateral effects of international events.
After his intervention, Dr Bonilla met with Sergio Alberto Baur, Ambassador of Argentina in Helsinki with whom he exchanged about the current role of Argentina as Presidency of the CELAC and Co-Presidency of the EU-LAC Foundation. Hereby, Dr Bonilla also informed about the II. Edition of the EU-CELAC Strategic Partnership Training Course for Young Diplomats to take place later this year in Buenos Aires.
A further meeting took place with Mr Jari Sinkari, Director General for the Americas and Ms Anu Vuori-Kiikeri, Deputy Head of Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. During the meeting, the participants interchanged their views on the current geopolitical context, especially the Russian war, and its implications for the bi-regional agenda. Dr Bonilla and Mr Sinkari agreed on the necessity for bi-regional spaces that discuss the UE-CELAC strategic partnership and they reflected on possible forms of collaboration between the government of Finland and the Foundation in this line.
