MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Wednesday, July 1st 2026 - 08:26 UTC
Orsi described the closing semester as “historic” for the signing of the pact with the EU, which he called a “turning point” for economic integration and investment
Uruguay's President Yamandú Orsi on Tuesday assumed the pro tempore presidency of Mercosur and set as a priority of his term to “keep modernizing” the bloc and consolidate its trade opening, following the provisional entry into force of the agreement with the European Union. “We want a more modern, more dynamic Mercosur, more open to the world, but above all a Mercosur that produces concrete results for its citizens,” he said as he received the rotating presidency from host Santiago Peña of Paraguay, at the 68th summit of heads of state held in Luque.
Orsi described the closing semester as “historic” for the signing of the pact with the EU, which he called a “turning point” for economic integration and investment, and held that it has sparked “renewed interest” from other countries and blocs in Mercosur. Along those lines, he said that during the Uruguayan tenure “special emphasis” would be placed on implementing the European agreement and on ties with the European Free Trade Association. At the next summit, scheduled for December, the first Council of the Interim Trade Agreement and the first business forum between the two blocs will be held.
