Lula And Ursula Von Der Leyen Celebrate EU-Mercosur Trade Deal In Rio

Brazilian President Lula and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen celebrated on Friday in Rio de Janeiro the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur, calling it a success of multilateralism despite persistent concerns.

“Brazil closed the second day of participation in the G7 summit in Évian, France, with a diplomatic balance that highlights the distance between Brasília and the group of the seven leading world economies”

Folha de S.Paulo

The Mercosur founding countries—Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay—will sign the text with the European Union on Saturday in Asunción, the Paraguayan capital, after more than 25 years of negotiations.

Folha de S.Paulo

La Croix said the agreement creates one of the largest free-trade zones in the world but raises strong concerns within the agricultural sector, particularly in France, while Lula da Silva told reporters that the agreement is "very good, especially for the democratic world and for multilateralism."

The same article tied the deal to a wider U.S. pressure campaign, saying Donald Trump threatened on Friday to impose tariffs on countries that would not support his plan to acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory and a NATO member.

La Croix also quoted Antonio Costa saying, "With Mercosur, the two blocs send a very strong message at a time when international law is threatened," while noting that the treaty still must be ratified by the European Parliament.

South Africa protested its exclusion from the Evian G7 under pressure from Donald Trump, after the Élysée announced that Kenya would represent Africa at the Summit.

Radio France said Donald Trump threatened to boycott the Evian G7 under French presidency if South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is invited, and Pretoria accused American pressure of leading to canceling an invitation extended to Ramaphosa.

La Croix

The article said the G7 Summit is taking place in Evian from June 15 to 17 under French presidency, with the Élysée including as 'partners' four countries representing regions of the world: India, South Korea, Brazil and Kenya.

Radio France reported that South Africa denounced American pressure that would have led to canceling an invitation extended to President Cyril Ramaphosa, and it described Ramaphosa’s absence as notable after he participated in the previous G7 in France in 2019 in Biarritz.

It also said France was not obliged to exclude South Africa, but did not want to risk a clash with Donald Trump and potentially a boycott of the Summit by the American president, framing the dispute as emblematic of the "imperial character of the current American presidency".

Brazil closed the second day of participation in the G7 summit in Évian, France, with a diplomatic balance that highlighted the distance between Brasília and the group of the seven leading world economies.

“South Africa protests its exclusion from the Evian G7 under pressure from Donald Trump”

Radio France

Folha de S.Paulo said that of five documents released by the French presidency, Brazil joined only two, and in Brasília’s assessment much of the texts were deliberately shaped to ensure the United States' presence at the summit and to prevent a veto by President Donald Trump.

The article reported that Brazil rejected the declaration on international development partnerships, and it said the declaration on the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Uganda did not receive Brazilian support because the text makes no mention of the WHO.

Folha de S.Paulo also described Lula’s approach to global health through a letter from Lula to the WHO Secretary-General, Tedros Adhanom, requesting support from G20 and G7 countries for the agency, while Brazil joined the declaration on combatting drug trafficking.

On the stakes of the summit’s direction, Folha de S.Paulo quoted the Brazilian argument that "the problem is not resource scarcity but a political choice about how to use them," and it said Brazil stayed out of the migration declaration and did not join the declaration on critical minerals.