Lula tells German Chancellor that he intends to close a Mercosur-EU agreement this year

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) met this Tuesday (19) with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and defended the conclusion of the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union later this year. The meeting took place after Lula spoke at the opening of the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), in New York, in the United States.

“We talked about the Mercosur-European Union agreement, which I consider important for us to conclude this year, and about the current global situation. I will visit Germany in December, when we will have two days of work between our governments to deepen cooperation, ties and investments between our countries”, said Lula in social media.

The PT member took charge of Mercosur at the beginning of July, for six months and wants to close the agreement with the European Union during this period. Palácio do Planalto reported that in addition to topics linked to the agreement, Lula and Scholz talked about the Ukrainian War and discussed the world situation.

The meeting marked the third meeting between the two leaders this year, after Scholz was received by Lula in Brasília at the end of January and met the Brazilian president again in Hiroshima, Japan, during the G7 Summit in May.

Meeting with the president of Austria focused on energy transition

Lula also had a bilateral meeting with the president of Austria, Alexander Van der Bellen. According to Planalto, the two spoke about environmental issues and cited expectations surrounding COP30, which will be held in Belém, in 2025. They also discussed the energy transition and the search for clean energy sources.

Lula highlighted the Brazilian government’s intention to initiate “green industrialization”, with low carbon emissions, and spoke about the
Global Alliance for Biofuels, launched alongside India and the United States during the G20 Summit in New Delhi.

This was the PT member’s second meeting with a high-ranking representative of the Austrian government in 2023. In July, during the Celac and European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium, he met with the Federal Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer.

Lula also met with the Prime Minister of Norway

This afternoon, Lula also met with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, and they talked about environmental financing and investments in renewable energy sources. “Norway is one of the main foreign investors in the Amazon Fund, along with Germany, and released funds again for projects in the region at the beginning of this year”, informed the government.

The two also discussed commercial issues, since Brazil is Norway’s main trading partner outside Europe. “The European country has investments in the oil and gas and mining industries, especially aluminum, in Brazilian territory”, according to Planalto. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders in 2023. In July, they spoke by phone about partnerships and sustainability.

Lula’s last bilateral this Tuesday was with the president of Palestine

Lula’s last official agenda this Tuesday was with the president of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian leader invited the Brazilian president to the country whenever he wants. In March 2010, at the end of his second term, the PT member made his first official visit to Palestine.

Abbas congratulated President Lula for his victory in the 2022 election and for his speech this morning at the opening of the General Assembly. In his speech, Lula criticized the global governance system, which has not yet managed to implement the two-state solution, Palestine and Israel, in the region.

“It is disturbing to see that old unresolved disputes persist and new threats emerge or gain force. The difficulty of guaranteeing the creation of a State for the Palestinian people clearly demonstrates this”, said Lula in an excerpt of the speech.