1 of 2 Lula embarks on a journey to Europe — Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR Lula embarks on a journey to Europe — Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/PR
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva embarked on a new trip to Europe on Monday evening (19), the third since his return to the Planalto Palace.
Lula’s first engagement will be this Tuesday (20th) to meet sociologist Domenico De Masi in Rome, the first destination of the trip. Meetings with politicians will take place from Wednesday (21) to Friday (23).
Lula is traveling to meet Pope Francis next week
Topics for discussion include the war in Ukraine, environmental protection and the MercosurEU agreement.
The full agenda is below:
- Meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Rome;
- Audience with Pope Francis in the Vatican;
- Meeting with the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.
- Summit for a new global financial compact in Paris;
- Speech at the Power Our Planet event on the Champ de Mars in Paris;
- Dinner presented by President Emmanuel Macron to the heads of delegations at the Summit.
- Participation in the Summit HighLevel Dialogue in Paris;
- Working lunch offered by Macron Lula.
Pope Francis
2 of 2 Pope Francis met Lula in 2020. — Photo: Reproduction/Twitter LulaOfficial Pope Francis met Lula in 2020. — Photo: Reproduction/Twitter LulaOficial
Lula will have his first meeting with Pope Francis in his third term. The meeting comes five days after the Pope, the most important authority of the Catholic Church in the world, left the hospital. Francisco was in the hospital for nine days because of an operation on his intestines.
Lula explained that he took the initiative and asked for an audience with the Pope. He intends to discuss measures against inequality with Francis and reach an agreement that could paralyze the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Mercosur European Union
Lula will also travel to Paris to join political leaders from other countries at the Summit for a New Global Fiscal Compact, an event hosted by Macron.
Lula will have a bilateral agenda with the French President, who backed him in the election last year. The Petista said in an interview this Monday that he wanted to discuss the terms of the trade deal between Mercosur and the European Union.
“I would like to discuss with Macron the question of the French Parliament, which approved the tightening of the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. “The European Union cannot try to threaten or punish Mercosur if it does not comply with this or that,” he said.
Lula recently criticized the regulation included in the agreement, which provides for the imposition of sanctions in the event of breaches of duty by the signatory states. The Brazilian government has complained about this additional document.
The agreement between Mercosur and the European Union has been negotiated since 1999. Twenty years after the talks began, in 2019, the blocs concluded trade negotiations and a year later the socalled political and cooperative aspects. Since then, the agreement has been reviewed until it is signed.
festival
Lula’s agenda includes the President’s participation in the Power Our Planet festival in Paris on Thursday. The event includes concerts by Lenny Kravitz, Billie Eilish and HER
According to the columnist of g1 Julia Duailibi, Lula’s invitation to take part in the festival was made by Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. The president and the musician met in Brazil in March when Chris Martin came to the country for a tour.
In an interview with the government broadcaster on Monday, Lula opened up about his participation in the festival. “A public act with several political leaders and several artists, and I will be a speaker at this meeting to talk about the environmental issue,” he said.