Status: 01/31/2023 02:15 am
Chancellor Scholz wants to open a new chapter in relations with Brazil. After the meeting with President Lula, both promised faster progress on the Mercosur free trade agreement and cooperation on climate protection.
After the change of power in Brazil, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to open a new chapter in relations with the largest and most populous country in Latin America. “We are all happy that Brazil is back on the world stage,” said Scholz on Monday at a press conference with the new President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasília. “You were missed, dear Lula,” he added. He is now looking forward to a good and long cooperation. After these words, Lula spontaneously hugged Scholz.
The 77-year-old left-wing politician Lula prevailed in a runoff election in October against right-wing Jair Bolsonaro, also known as the “Donald Trump of the tropics”. Lula was sworn in on January 1st in the presence of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Scholz is then the first head of government to visit the new president in the capital Brasília.
“Very good news for our planet”
Chancellor Scholz welcomed the announcements made by the new President Lula on climate protection and against deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. This is “very good news for our planet,” said Scholz on Monday evening after meeting Lula at his headquarters in Brasília. He spoke of a new partnership against climate change.
With a view to economic cooperation between Germany and Brazil, Scholz said there were “many issues on which we want to work closely together”. In addition to climate protection, this included the expansion of renewable energies, the production of green hydrogen and the “socially just transformation of our economy”.
The Chancellor also reaffirmed his willingness to see the free trade agreement between the EU and the South American Mercosur countries ratified quickly. Lula and he agree that this deal should “come quickly.” Scholz announced a resumption of the German-Brazilian government consultations for the autumn, which were suspended after the premiere in 2015 during Bolsonaro’s government.
Support for the defense of democracy
With a view to the attacks on government institutions in Brasília on January 8 this year, Scholz assured the President of his support in defending democracy. “Democrats must stand together,” he said. This is “a reminder that we must do everything we can to defend democracy”.
On January 8, thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed the government district in Brasília. They briefly seized the control centers of the country’s most important branches of government: They broke into Congress, the Supreme Court and the government seat Palácio do Planalto, rioted in offices and boardrooms and left a trail of destruction in their wake.
It was announced on Monday that Bolsonaro himself had applied for a six-month visa in the United States, where he has been since late December. Bolsonaro was targeted by the judiciary as a result of the storming of the government district in Brasília.
Brazil refuses to give Ukraine tank ammunition
Brazil will not provide ammunition for the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks supplied by Germany to Ukraine or for Leopard tanks. Lula clearly rejected such requests after the conversation with Chancellor Scholz. “Brazil has no interest in transferring the ammunition to be used in the Ukraine-Russia war,” he said in a joint press conference. “Brazil is a country of peace. And that’s why Brazil doesn’t want any involvement in this war, not even indirectly.”