Europeupdated 2h ago2 min read
Archive photo · 16 February 2023Ursula Von Der Leyen, Macron Congratulate Lula Da Silva After Brazil Re-Election
12 Western Mainstream3 Latin American3 Other7 Other source typesPhoto: Ricardo Stuckert/PR, CC BY 2.0 · Cropped for layout
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Lula da Silva won a fourth term, defeating Flavio Bolsonaro with ~51.8%. World leaders, including von der Leyen and Macron, congratulated Lula on democracy.
Europe backs Lula
Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his re-election, saying “Democracy and multilateralism have won in Brazil,” and adding that Europe’s partnership with Brazil is thriving. French President Emmanuel Macron called to keep “the friendship between our two countries alive in the service of a more just world” after Lula’s victory.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hailed Lula’s win as a “progressive comeback,” and he said, “What happened in Brazil will happen in Spain.” European leaders also tied their messages to climate and trade, with von der Leyen proclaiming strong ambitions for climate and “Together we will keep working closely for free and open trade.”
Markets and policy signals
The São Paulo stock exchange fell sharply after Lula’s re-election, with trading suspended for 30 minutes before the opening and the Ibovespa index falling by nearly 17%. The dollar surged by 12% against the real, to 5.60 reais per dollar, as European and global leaders framed the result as a defense of multilateralism.
Graham Stock, strategist at RBC BlueBay, said the election “held a bad surprise for the markets,” and he pointed to the “main signal” the markets would seek on fiscal discipline. DW’s analysis also framed the European angle through Ukraine, with Ana Soliz de Stange saying Brazil remains “a critical voice on European policy toward the war in Ukraine,” and warning that the election result could be “a win for Putin.”
What Europe may do next
European policy attention centered on EU-Mercosur and climate, as von der Leyen’s posts linked Lula’s victory to a “rules-based order” and to Brussels’ push toward the EU-Mercosur agreement. The Netherlands announced it would invest US$500 million (R$2.5 billion) in the TFFF, a forest fund launched by Lula at the UN General Assembly last year, as the European press highlighted forest protection.
“Even without being lulist, what was at stake was democracy against the far right.”
France 24 described Lula’s win as preserving a counterweight on climate and digital regulation, quoting Gaspard Estrada that “Even without being lulist, what was at stake was democracy against the far right.” DW also suggested Europe’s stance could face friction, because Lula’s reelection was described as complicating Europe’s Ukraine policy through Brazil’s “critical voice” on the war, while the same analysis said Brazil’s room for maneuver could depend on multilateral initiatives with Europe.
