MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Orsi to visit Europe for meetings with Pope Leo XIV, European leaders, and EU officials

The agenda will culminate in Brussels, where he will meet with EU authorities: the European Parliament could ratify the Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the EU this year

Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi will travel in October to Rome, Madrid, and Brussels for an official tour that will include meetings with Pope Leo XIV, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and King Felipe VI.

In Rome, Orsi will take part on 16 October in the 80th anniversary of the FAO and the World Food Day ceremony, where he will deliver a speech. The following day, he will be received by the pontiff at the Vatican. “I committed to formally inviting the pope to visit Uruguay,” Orsi had said after meeting with leaders of the Uruguayan Catholic Church.

In Madrid, he will hold another meeting with Sánchez, whom he welcomed in Montevideo in July, and will meet with King Felipe VI. The tour will conclude in Brussels, where he will meet with European Union authorities at a key moment: the European Parliament is expected to ratify this year the EU–Mercosur Free Trade Agreement, concluded last December.

According to the Uruguayan government, the trip aims to strengthen political and economic cooperation with strategic partners and promote the country’s trade agenda within the framework of the historic bi-regional pact.