Brazilian President Lula da Silva stated during the Mercosur summit, that “the world is eager” for agreements with the South American bloc and that it expects several understandings in the coming months. “The world is eager for agreements with Mercosur”, said the Brazilian President in his opening speech at the organization’s summit in Foz do Iguaçu, in the south of Brazil, in which he did not mention the postponement of the signing of the trade agreement with the European Union (EU), which was scheduled for today and was postponed, possibly until January 12, in Paraguay.
Lula da Silva said that several countries are interested in trade agreements with the bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, and that Mercosur should take advantage of this opportunity to achieve as many understandings as possible.
“I hope we have six months of good international agreements”, declared the President of Brazil, who will transfer the rotating presidency of Mercosur to Paraguay today.
Although the European Council announced on Thursday that it did not have the necessary support to approve the signing of the agreement today, having proposed postponing it to January 12 in Paraguay, the heads of state of the four Mercosur countries confirmed their presence at the summit.
In addition to the host president, the leaders of Argentina, Javier Milei, Paraguay, Santiago Peña, and Uruguay, Yamandú Orsi, were present in Foz do Iguaçu.
Despite Lula da Silva’s warning that Mercosur would abandon the agreement if it was not signed today, at the pre-summit meeting between the organization’s foreign ministers, held on Friday, disappointment with the postponement was expressed, but also the message that South American countries will wait for the EU to overcome its differences.