The European Union has conveyed its congratulations this Wednesday to Abelardo de la Espriella for his victory in the second round of the presidential elections in Colombia, and has underlined the "peaceful" development of the electoral event in the country, which also had "record participation".
In an official note, the European External Action Service (EEAS) has expressed its willingness to collaborate "closely" with the new Colombian Government to strengthen the "historic" bilateral relationship, with the aim of intensifying cooperation in areas of shared interest such as "trade and investment, peace and security, sustainable development, and multilateral cooperation".
In the statement, the community diplomacy affirms that "The European Union congratulates Abelardo de la Espriella on his election as president of Colombia, as well as the Colombian people for the development of peaceful elections with record participation figures".
The European Union's message comes after the official candidate, Iván Cepeda, admitted his defeat in the second round held last Sunday against the far-right candidate, pending the official proclamation of the results by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
The progressive leader has stated that he accepts the verdict of the polls, which would place both contenders separated by just 1%, because he believes "deeply in democracy" and because he is "convinced that political differences must be resolved through citizen participation".
However, Cepeda has accused his opponent's campaign of having "carried out a massive vote-buying operation aimed at altering the free expression of the popular will" and of having deployed and "used sophisticated manipulation strategies through artificial intelligence technologies".
Despite the close count, on Monday several heads of state and government anticipated congratulating De la Espriella on his victory, including the president of the United States, Donald Trump, as well as various Ibero-American leaders, such as Argentina's Javier Milei or Chile's José Antonio Kast.