European leaders have welcomed the re-election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva as president of Brazil. “Democracy and multilateralism have won in Brazil,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared.
European leaders welcomed Lula’s re-election for a fourth presidential term, defying predictions of a right-wing wave in Latin America’s most populous country and securing an important ally for the European Union, Euronews reports.
Von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa were among the first to congratulate Lula on his victory. They had worked closely with him to secure a trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur.
The agreement, signed in January with the South American trade bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, was seen as a countermeasure to US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs.
Brussels had feared that Lula’s right-wing rival, Flávio Bolsonaro, could jeopardise the agreement. Bolsonaro had called for Brazil to free itself from Mercosur’s “shackles” and pursue independent trade agreements, including one with the United States.
“Congratulations to my friend Lula,” von der Leyen wrote on social media.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro also joined in congratulating Lula.
“Faced with the major challenges of our time, let us strengthen our strategic partnership and turn the friendship between our two countries into reality, in the service of a fairer world,” Macron said.
Pedro Sánchez, one of Europe’s most prominent left-wing leaders, described Lula’s re-election as a “great victory” and drew a parallel with Spain, where the conservative opposition is leading in opinion polls ahead of snap elections scheduled for next month.
“What happened in Brazil will happen in Spain. The return of global progressivism has only just begun,” Sánchez declared.
Reactions from Europe came as results from Brazil showed Lula securing a lead of approximately 4.4 million votes over Bolsonaro, winning 51.8% of the total vote.
