Scholz and Lula meet amid tensions over Mercosur trade deal – DW – 12/04/2023

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to Berlin on Monday. The meeting featured the first Brazilian-German government consultations in eight years.

It comes as Latin America and Europe’s largest economies seek to revive ties and amidst a pending free-trade agreement between the Mercosur economic bloc and the EU.

The relationship between Scholz and Lula

For Lula, the trip is part of ongoing efforts to restore Brazil’s standing on the global stage after years of diplomatic isolation under his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

Scholz and Lula met in January, just weeks after the Brazilian president succeeded Bolsonaro. The encounter was overshadowed by differences over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Now the two leaders also hold opposing policies on the war between Israel and Gaza, with Lula saying last month said Israel was “committing terrorism” against Palestinians “by not taking into account that children are not at war, that women are not at war.”

Scholz by contrast has continuously backed Israel and its “right to defend itself.”

Germany, Brazil and the Mercosur-EU trade deal

Prior to the German German-Brazilian government consultations, Lula alluded to the possibility of failure on the Mercosur talks.

“If there’s no agreement, patience. It’s not for lack of desire. The only thing that needs to be clear is that they no longer say it’s because of Brazil. And that they no longer say it’s because of South America,” said Lula on Sunday. 

The Brazilian president accused wealthy countries of not wanting to make any concessions. 

If passed, the Mercosur-EU deal would create one of the world’s largest free trade zones with more than 700 million inhabitants.  

“It is known that we support and strive for this agreement and also want it to be concluded really swiftly,” a spokesperson for the German Economy Ministry said on Friday.

Germany’s business community has also urged for progress, pinning its hopes on the talks at the German-Brazilian Economic Forum.

jcg/rt (Reuters, dpa, EFE)