"Brazilian democracy was able to resist," German chancellor says
On a visit to Brazil, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met Monday (Jan. 30) with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brasilia and commented on pro-coup attacks that took place three weeks ago in Brazil’s capital.
"I would like to express and reaffirm to President Lula, and to all Brazilians, that you can count on the full solidarity of the Federal Republic of Germany. The democrats must close ranks in the face of such an outrageous attack. Brazilian democracy is strong and was able to resist this attack, which is impressive and serves as a model," Scholz emphasized at a press conference after a private meeting with Lula.
Earlier, he mentioned the emotion of seeing up close the Planalto presidential palace, invaded by extremists a few weeks ago. "This meeting makes me very emotional because the images of the invasion of the Congress, the presidential palace and the Supreme Court, three weeks ago, are still very present in my and our memories. And we can still see the remnants of such destruction, a sign for us to defend democracy." The two leaders met alone for about an hour, followed by a working meeting with ministers from both countries.
The defense of democracy was also highlighted in the bilateral communiqué distributed by the presidential palace after the meeting. The next gathering between Lula and Scholz is scheduled for September, this time in Germany.
The German chancellor also praised Brazil's resumption of multilateral dialogue. "We are very happy that Brazil is back on the world stage and as a leader in Latin America. You were missed, Lula."
On the bilateral agenda, Olaf Scholz expressed his desire for collaboration especially in the area of environment and climate change, including protection of the Amazon rainforest, expansion of renewable energy and fair economic transformations, as well as advancing the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union. "˜The central theme of our cooperation will be the future of our energy supply. Brazil, an important actor in advancing the green agenda, you have experience with renewable energies and green hydrogen," he stated.
The governments of the two countries signed an agreement for an investment of 200 million euros by Germany for environmental protection measures in Brazil. The partnership was announced by the Brazilian Minister of Environment, Marina Silva, and the German Minister of Cooperation, Svenja Schulze.
