BRUSSELS: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday announced a “political agreement” to conclude a long-awaited free trade deal, as US leader Donald Trump upends global commerce.
“We’re living in turbulent times and when economic uncertainty meets geopolitical volatility, partners like us must come closer together. So today we’re taking a big step forward in this partnership,” von der Leyen told journalists in Brussels.
“I am very pleased to report that we have just reached a political agreement on an ambitious Free Trade Agreement.”
The 27-nation European bloc and Southeast Asia’s largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment.
A European Commission statement called Sunday’s agreement a “decisive milestone” toward striking the deal — which is to be concluded in September by EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic and Indonesia’s chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto.
“There’s a lot of untapped potential in our trade relationship. And therefore this agreement comes at the right time, because the new agreement will open new markets,” von der Leyen said.
“It will create more opportunities in key industries, in business activity and agriculture, in automotive and in services.”
Brussels has stepped up efforts to improve ties with key potential partners around the world as Trump threatens a trade war with sweeping tariffs.
“This big and important political agreement on the free trade agreement with Indonesia is today a huge milestone forward, and shows that we’re looking for new markets, open markets,” von der Leyen said.
Prabowo called the announcement in Brussels a “breakthrough.”
“After 10 years of negotiations, we have concluded the agreement to have a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which basically is a free trade agreement,” he said.
The president said “we consider Europe still a very important factor, and we would like to see a very strong Europe.”
But he insisted that “the United States will be always a very important leader in the world.”
The European Union is Indonesia’s fifth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade between them reaching $30.1 billion last year.
Ties had been frayed by a proposed EU import ban on products linked to deforestation that has angered Indonesia because it is a major palm oil exporter.
That legislation has been delayed to the end of this year.
EU and Indonesia announce ‘political agreement’ on trade deal
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EU and Indonesia announce ‘political agreement’ on trade deal
- European bloc and Southeast Asia’s largest economy have been negotiating since 2016 to agree a deal that is expected to increase trade and investment
Three Afghan migrants die of cold while trying to cross into Iran
- More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025
AFGHANISTAN: Three Afghans died from exposure in freezing temperatures in the western province of Herat while trying to illegally enter Iran, a local army official said on Saturday.
“Three people who wanted to illegally cross the Iran-Afghanistan border have died because of the cold weather,” the Afghan army official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He added that a shepherd was also found dead in the mountainous area of Kohsan from the cold.
The migrants were part of a group that attempted to cross into Iran on Wednesday and was stopped by Afghan border forces.
“Searches took place on Wednesday night, but the bodies were only found on Thursday,” the army official said.
More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), which said that the majority were “forced and coerced returns.”
“These mass returns in adverse circumstances have strained Afghanistan’s already overstretched resources and services” which leads to “risks of onward and new displacement, including return movements back into Pakistan and Iran and onward,” UNHCR posted on its site dedicated to Afghanistan’s situation.
This week, Amnesty International called on countries to stop forcibly returning people to Afghanistan, citing a “real risk of serious harm for returnees.”
Hit by two major earthquakes in recent months and highly vulnerable to climate change, Afghanistan faces multiple challenges.
It is subject to international sanctions particularly due to the exclusion of women from many jobs and public places, described by the UN as “gender apartheid.”
More than 17 million people in the country are facing acute food insecurity, the UN World Food Programme said Tuesday.
