The President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council have already congratulated Luís Inácio Lula da Silva on his election as President of Brazil.
The head of the community executive, Ursula von der Leyen, says she is “eager to work” with Lula da Silva. Von der Leyen considers that the work between the European Union and Brazil must aim at “facing the pressing global challenges.”
Examples of this are “food security, trade and climate change”, says the president of the European Commission in a concise message published this Monday morning, on the social network Twitter, in which she sends her “congratulations” to Lula da Silva. for the election as President of Brazil”.
Date
The president of the European Council even admits that he wants “soon” to meet “in person” with the leader of the Workers’ Party, “eagerly” to “congratulate” him, now that “Brazilians have opted for change.”
“The EU is committed to cooperating on global challenges: peace and stability, prosperity, climate change”, underlines Charles Michel, naming the areas in which the European Union intends to “work with the entire region”.
Contrast
The speed with which the institutional leaders of the European Union announced congratulations to the president-elect of Brazil contrasts with the gesture of four years ago, when the chosen one was Jair Bolsonaro and the European Council was chaired by Donald Tusk and the European Commission Jean- Claude Junker.
In 2018, the formality was carried out with the utmost discretion, through a letter sent on behalf of the two presidents, the day after Bolsonaro’s election. The letter was kept unusually secret until nearly a week after the victory of the Liberal Party-backed candidate.
In the letter, Juncker and Tusk congratulated Bolsonaro “on behalf of the European Union”, but also recalled that respect for “human rights” are issues “of common interest”, in the “long-standing” strategic association.
In the longest of four short paragraphs, the leaders of the two European institutions reminded Bolsonaro that “the EU and Brazil have a long-standing strategic partnership, which has helped develop extensive cooperation on bilateral and multilateral issues of common interest.” .
Still in the same paragraph, the two presidents highlighted “trade, science and technology, the information society, energy and environmental protection” as key elements of “broad cooperation”, also referring to the “human rights” issues, but also “defense and security”.
At the time, the conclusion of the Mercosur trade agreement, reached in June 2019, was one of the most sensitive issues, after two decades of negotiations.
Bolsonaro hinted that Mercosur would not be one of his priorities. However, in the congratulatory letter, Brussels stressed that the trade agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay would be a priority for the European Union.
“We are prepared to continue and strengthen this partnership during your presidency for the benefit of our citizens, including in the context of the ongoing negotiations on the EU-MERCOSUR Association Agreement,” says the letter sent to the president-elect of Brazil, dated 31 October, the day after the vote.
In the letter, Juncker and Tusk also wished “all the best” for Jair Bolsonaro “in his new roles,” formally concluding with the statement “we look forward to working with you.”
Source: TSF
