Photo: A Peace Brigades International advocacy delegation visit to the European Parliament in Brussels with accompanied human rights defenders from Guatemala, Colombia, Mexico and Honduras.
The European Parliament has announced it “will open an antenna office in Ottawa to further strengthen parliamentary relations between the European Union and Canada. The Bureau decision comes ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s formal address to the European Parliament on Thursday 17 September.”
The European Parliament adds: “The Ottawa antenna will strengthen the European Parliament’s presence in and engagement with Canada, raise awareness of its work among Canadian audiences and facilitate parliamentary exchanges.”
CBC News additionally explains: “The parliament is a representative body of elected members from the states that make up the EU. The EU already has an embassy in Ottawa, but it’s run by the European Commission which is the executive branch of the bloc and separate from the parliament.”
This week, the Prime Minister’s Office highlighted: “Prime Minister, Mark Carney, will travel to Strasbourg, France, and Liverpool, United Kingdom (UK), from September 15 to September 17, 2026. …[He will] meet with members of the European Parliament to strengthen Canada’s ties with the EU in trade, investment, and security. …In February, Canada became the first non-European country to join the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative – unlocking hundreds of millions of dollars in opportunities and market access for Canadian defence industries, businesses, and workers.”
That statement adds: “Canada will build on this momentum when we host the upcoming Canada-EU Summit from October 29 to 30, 2026.”
PBI and the European Parliament
Peace Brigades International, most notably PBI-Guatemala and PBI-Colombia, has advocacy staff in Brussels who regular bring PBI accompanied defenders to meet with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
We note the Committee on Political Affairs, Security and Human Rights composed of 20 members of the European Parliament and 20 from the Latin American component. Their committee discusses “respect for and promotion and defence of human rights, democratic principles and good governance.”
We also highlight the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (EuroLat), a multilateral parliamentary assembly composed of 75 members of the European Parliament and 75 members from the Latin American regional parliaments.
Earlier this month, PBI-Honduras noted that the EU-LAT Network and 39 organizations, including PBI, signed an open letter calling for greater safeguards in EU-backed investments to prevent human rights violations.
The Brussels-based EU-LAT Network speaks at public hearings at the European Parliament and has participated in EuroLat meetings with civil society with the framework of permanent parliamentary committees.
With the news of a European Parliament antenna office in Ottawa, PBI-Canada looks forward to strengthening the holistic protective accompaniment of human rights organizations, defenders and communities in collaboration with PBI projects with advocacy representation in Brussels.
Photo: On June 26, 2026, PBI-Colombia posted on social media about meeting with Verena Mertens, a German Member of the European Parliament representing the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats).
Selected Peace Brigades International-Canada articles about PBI interventions at the European Parliament in recent years:
–PBI-Colombia accompanies the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation at meetings in Brussels with Members of the European Parliament (June 30, 2026)
–PBI-Guatemala meets with Spanish Member of the European Parliament José Cepeda in Brussels (March 18, 2026)
–PBI-Mexico accompanies People’s Front on advocacy tour highlighting European water and energy companies in Mexico (November 16, 2022)
–PBI-Colombia accompanies CAHUCOPANA on advocacy visit to Brussels, Berlin and Oslo (May 21, 2022)
–European Parliament condemns the killing of human rights defenders and journalists in Mexico (March 12, 2022)
–Guapinol defenders and Berta Cáceres nominated for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize (September 28, 2020)
–Green MEP Tilly Metz calls on President of Honduras to put an end to the criminalization of Guapinol water defenders (September 2, 2020).
–PBI-Honduras notes letter from MEPs calling for release of Guapinol water defenders from prison (April 8, 2020).
