Brussels – Lula is set to remain Brazil’s president. The leader of the Workers’ Party and outgoing president has won the run-off, securing a fourth term at the helm of the South American federal republic. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has secured victory with 51.7 per cent of the votes cast following a neck-and-neck race with his far-right challenger, Flavio Bolsonaro (48.2 per cent), who is contesting the election result because polling stations remained open for two hours longer than scheduled (9.00 pm Italian time). This was deemed “inexplicable”, leading the son of the former general to call for the “annulment” of the vote.
The European Union wasted no time celebrating the re-election of the outgoing president: “I spoke with President Lula on the phone last night to congratulate him on his re-election”, the President of the European Council, António Costa, announced on social media. “We will continue to work together to deepen our ties, tackle global challenges, and build a more peaceful and prosperous world.”
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, also expressed her satisfaction: “Democracy and multilateralism have won in Brazil.” The EU and the European Commission, she added, “will remain by your side in the years to come”, and “together we will keep working closely for free and open trade, a rules-based global order, and ambitions for our climate.”
https://www.eunews.it/2023/08/23/summit-brics-allargamento-moneta-ucraina/
The jubilant reactions from the Old Continent are no coincidence: Lula’s electoral victory means predictable bilateral relations and the safeguarding of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement, in force but on a provisional basis. Regarding the first point, Flavio Bolsonaro’s potential arrival at the Palácio do Planalto would have meant political relations with actors other than those on whom the EU can rely, starting with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, against whom the European Union intends to create alternative poles. “The European Union and Brazil are solid partners,” Costa stressed, as if to highlight the alternative that the EU can represent on the international stage.
From a trade perspective, Lula represents a guarantee for the free trade agreement with the Latin American bloc, which is regarded as strategic in light of the shifts in US policy. Knowing that it will not be called into question is a huge relief for the EU institutions that negotiated it.
Moreover, sustainability features far more prominently on Lula’s political agenda than on that of his challenger, Bolsonaro Jr.This aspect, too, should not be overlooked, and von der Leyen’s emphasis on a commitment to climate action is no coincidence.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
