The Diplomat
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, received yesterday at the Moncloa Palace the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with whom he agreed on the importance of the Spanish Presidency of the EU and the Brazilian Presidency of Mercosur to reach a trade agreement between the two parties and whom he thanked for his proposal to create a “G20 of peace” in Ukraine, but with “nuances”: “There is an aggressor and an aggressed and if we want a fair and lasting peace it is essential that the voice of the aggressed country is heard”.
During the meeting – in which the President of the Government was accompanied by the three Vice-Presidents of the Government (Nadia Calviño, Yolanda Díaz and Teresa Ribera) and by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares; Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez; Science and Innovation, Diana Morant; and Universities, Joan Subirats – the two leaders adopted a Joint Declaration which, according to Sánchez, “will serve as a roadmap” for the Renewed Strategic Partnership between the two countries. The two governments also signed two Memoranda of Understanding on university higher education and on cooperation in social and labor matters, and a letter of intent to promote joint projects of an innovative nature from the technological point of view.
The Joint Declaration, in addition to reaffirming the commitment of the two countries to freedom, democracy, human rights, gender equality and the defense of the rule of law and the defense of institutions against assaults on democracy such as those suffered by Brazil last January, announces the upcoming launch of the Permanent Bilateral Commission, which will coordinate and strengthen relations between the two countries in all areas in which they have been collaborating intensively for decades.
Likewise, Pedro Sánchez thanked Lula for “his involvement” in the Ukraine crisis and acknowledged his interest in promoting a group of mediating countries. “Spain and Brazil want the same thing: peace,” he declared during the joint press conference following the meeting. However, he warned, “for peace to be lasting and just, it is important that we all get involved, without forgetting that there is an aggressor and an aggressed”. Therefore, he added, “if we want peace to be just and lasting, it is essential that the voice of the attacked country be heard”. “We may have nuances in some of the things, but Brazil defends the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the fundamental thing is that we work for peace,” said Sanchez, who recalled that Brazil has always voted in the UN in favor of condemning Russia’s aggression.
Lula’s peace proposal to create a “G20 for peace” made up of “neutral countries”, presented during his recent trip to China, has generated skepticism in the EU, both for his opposition to sending arms to Ukraine and for his proposal to maintain dialogue, on an equal footing, with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and with the Ukrainian President, Volodymir Zelenskyy.
In this regard, Lula assured yesterday at the press conference that Brazil “condemns the violation of Ukraine’s rights by Russia since the invasion”, but insisted that the priority is to “stop the war” because “it can only be discussed when the war stops”. He also criticized the role of the UN and some powers that “have participated in wars and are the ones that sell the most weapons in the world”, and claimed, in this sense, the “voice” of “other countries that we have not yet managed to integrate the Security Council”, such as Brazil, Egypt or South Africa.
“There is no interest in talking about peace” and, therefore, “it is necessary that we find a group of people who are willing to find a way to stop the war,” he continued. “We are going to talk to everyone so that they stop fighting and start negotiating,” Lula added. When asked if Spain could belong to this “G20 of peace”, he limited himself to replying that “Spain will do what it decides it has to do without Brazil having to interfere in it”.
Mercosur
The other major issue addressed yesterday by both leaders was the current state of relations between the European Union and Latin America. In this regard, Sánchez recalled that, next July 17 and 18, the first EU-CELAC Summit since 2015 will be held in Brussels, in the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, and celebrated that the Brazilian president will attend this meeting. “Brazil, as the largest country in Latin America, has a key role to play,” he said.
Likewise, the President of the Government highlighted the coincidence between the Spanish Presidency of the EU and the Brazilian Presidency of Mercosur, both in the second half of this year, which represents an “excellent opportunity” to try to materialize the rapprochement between both organizations in concrete advances. “Brazil and Spain share the view that the agreement is the cornerstone for closer relations between the European Union and the countries that make up Mercosur,” said Sánchez at the press conference. “There are few arguments why this agreement cannot be reached,” he warned.
For his part, Lula admitted that “all the countries have their interests, but it must be appreciated that with the agreement there will be a win-win scenario, so it is important to reach a conclusion”. The Mercosur-EU agreement was closed in 2019 after more than 20 years of negotiations, but has not yet entered into force because of discrepancies. For the moment, France is one of the main stumbling blocks within the EU for an agreement to be reached, but Spanish government sources have expressed the hope that it will change its position.
The Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, also assured yesterday, during a joint conference with his Brazilian counterpart. Mauro Vieira, that “Spain is totally in favor of the progress and ratification” of an agreement that is “mutually beneficial for the EU and Mercosur”, and warned that “the time has come when we all have to make a decision of political will for the agreement to enter into force”. In addition, Albares conveyed to Vieira Spain’s support for Brazil’s entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), because “a country of Brazil’s weight and size should be inside”.
For his part, Vieira assured that Mercosur is finalizing the drafting of the additional documents that it expects to send to the EU in May. In any case, he specified that, even if the agreement is concluded this year, its entry into force will not be immediate because it will have to be approved by the Parliaments of the different countries. He also expressed his hope that Venezuela will be able to return to Mercosur in the next twelve months at the latest, after having been suspended in 2017.
The King also defends the “national sovereignty and territorial integrity” of Ukraine
Apart from his meeting with Sánchez, Lula da Silva was received at the Royal Palace by King Felipe VI. Afterwards, the King and Queen hosted a lunch in honor of the President and the First Lady, Rosângela Lula da Silva, which was attended by Pedro Sánchez and other members of the Government, as well as representatives of other institutions and personalities related to the country.
During his speech, Felipe VI said that “both Spain and Brazil defend multilateralism and international law” and, therefore, “in these days when Europe and the world are shaken by the war in Ukraine, we value even more Brazil’s traditional defense of peace”. “For peace to be lasting, it must be based on respect for international law and its most valuable principles, those of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. For this reason, Spain has firmly and steadfastly rejected Russia’s unjustifiable aggression in all international forums,” he added.
For his part, Lula assured that his country wants to “open paths for dialogue and not obstruct the solutions offered by diplomacy”, because this war “is a tragedy for humanity and the world needs peace and solidarity”. For this reason, he insisted on his proposal to create a group of “neutral countries” to negotiate the end of the conflict “between Russia and Ukraine”.
