2nd LD Writethru: EU, Canada sign landmark free trade deal after Belgian drama

The European Union (EU) and Canada signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, on Sunday.

European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker together with Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia which is holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, signed the long-delayed free trade deal with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a ceremony held in Brussels.

Tusk tweeted after the signing ceremony, saying that the West still possess enough strength and determination to counter fatalism of political's decay.

"The battle for CETA was highly emotional. Post-factual reality & post-truth politics pose a great challenge on both sides of the Atlantic," he tweeted.

The signing ceremony planned for Thursday was cancelled after a Belgian region opposed to sign the deal.

The EU, a bloc with 500 million people, can only sign the deal with consent of all member states.

All 28 EU states gave the "green light" to the deal on Friday when Belgian regional parliaments reached consensus.

Tusk said tree trade and globalization have protected humanity from poverty, hunger and total conflict, but few people seems to believe this today.

"We need to explain better the real effects of free trade. Protectionism means a return to national egoism, and threat of violent conflict," he said in his twitter.

The landmark free trade deal was reached in August 2014 after five years of negotiations, aiming to eliminate 98 percent of tariffs between the two sides. It has been opposed by various groups, including environmental activists, trade unionists and socialists. Endit