The President will also visit Spain on his first official trip to Europe since the beginning of his current term
MADRID, April 21 (EUROPA-PRESSE) –
The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, landed in Portugal this Friday morning, on the eve of the official start of a five-day visit, which was preceded by some controversy and which will serve to further strengthen ties between the two Portuguese-speaking countries, with the signing of 13 bilateral agreements before the Brazilian President makes a brief stopover in Spain.
It is Lula’s first trip to Europe since he returned to power earlier this year. The president, who has already visited five other countries including the United States and China, wants to restore Brazil’s presence on the international stage after the isolationism of his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who advocated more protectionism.
The government has defended that Portugal and Spain are a priority for Brazil, both because they belong to the Ibero-American community and because “the role they play within the framework of the European Union”. The European representative in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Luisa Escorel de Morae, emphasized that the two countries are important trading partners – Spain is the second largest investor in Brazil -.
Both in Portugal – from April 22nd to 25th – and in Spain – where he will be on April 25th and 26th – political and business meetings are on the official agenda. In the Spanish case, for example, the Brazilian executive has confirmed two meetings with the King and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the signing of three agreements.
In the case of Portugal, in addition to meetings with the main political authorities – including President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister António Costa – Lula da Silva is also scheduled to make a speech on Tuesday before the Assembly of the Republic. In fact, this speech was preceded by controversy after the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a solemn meeting.
Opposition lawmakers complained that the invitation was meant to match parliament, but questioned whether this event could fit into the annual plenary session commemorating the Carnation Revolution, which will eventually take place after the “welcome session” offered by Lula da Silva.
The words of the Brazilian President during his visit to China, in which he partly blamed the USA and Europe for the escalation of the war in Ukraine and assumed that the Crimean peninsula was under the sovereignty of Brazil, also caused controversy in the past few days Russia would remain, both positions not shared by the Portuguese or Spanish authorities.