Cooperation agreements, Mercosur, war in Gaza: Macron receives Lula for a two-day state visit

"Dear Lula, are we writing the sequel?" Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , a powerful voice for the countries of the "Global South," begins a two-day state visit to France this Thursday, June 5, during which international crises and the free trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur , to which Paris is firmly opposed, will be discussed.

This is the first state visit to France by a Brazilian president since 2012, and it comes just months before the COP hosted by Brazil next November.

Lula will be welcomed with a ceremony at Les Invalides, before a working lunch at the Élysée Palace with French President Emmanuel Macron, followed by a state dinner in the evening. The two men maintain warm relations, despite their differences.

Lula's visit, which he himself hosted his French counterpart in March 2024 , aims, according to the Brazilian president, to "strengthen" strategic ties between the two countries. A dozen cooperation agreements in the areas of environment, technology, defense, energy, and health are expected to be signed.

In the turbulent global context, marked in particular by the customs surcharges imposed by US President Donald Trump on his partners, and by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, "it is all the more important to find convergence with Brazil, a large emerging state" which this year holds the rotating presidency of the BRICS bloc, the Élysée stressed.

France is counting in particular on the mobilisation of Brazil, which recognised the Palestinian state in 2010, to influence the outcome of the conference organised by France and Saudi Arabia at the UN in mid-June, aimed at giving renewed impetus to a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict .

"There will be no peace until we realize that the Palestinian people have the right to their own state," Lula said on Tuesday, hours before his departure for Paris.

"It is precisely because of the suffering of the Jewish people in their history that the government of Israel should treat the Palestinian people with humanism and common sense," added the Brazilian president, describing the Israeli offensive in Gaza as "genocide," as he had done several times in the past.

Regarding Ukraine, France "intends to present to President Lula the state of the file," with "one party under attack that is ready for peace, and another party, the aggressor, that refuses any proposal for peace or dialogue."

Brazil, which currently chairs the BRICS group of emerging countries, continues to maintain good relations with Russia, and Lula was in Moscow on May 9 for the commemorations of the victory over Nazi Germany, where he was received by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The free trade agreement between the EU and Latin American countries will be the backdrop for Lula's visit to France. This agreement with Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay is intended to allow the EU to export more cars, machinery, and spirits, in exchange for the entry of South American meat, sugar, rice, honey, and soybeans.

Paris opposes this agreement "in its current form," unlike other European countries such as Germany and Spain. On the eve of the Brazilian president's visit, French MPs brought together several agricultural sectors at the National Assembly on Wednesday to reaffirm their opposition to the agreement.

Jean-François Guihard, president of the livestock and meat interprofessional association (Interbev), notably called on Emmanuel Macron to be "extremely firm" with the Brazilian president "to say that this agreement is not possible."

But in the midst of a trade war with the United States, "there is a new international context" that should push in favor of the agreement, according to Brazilian diplomacy. After his visit to Paris, the Brazilian president will participate in an economic summit in Monaco on June 8, then will be in Nice on the 9th with President Macron for the opening of the UN conference on oceans .