Europe welcomes Lula da Silva's re-election for a fourth term in Brazil

A victory that defied the forecasts

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been re-elected for a fourth term: according to the vote count, he leads his rival Flavio Bolsonaro by almost 4.4 million votes and has won 51.8% of the total. The results defied predictions of a rightward turn in Latin America's most populous country — after the first round, many polls had forecast a Bolsonaro victory. This is reported by Euronews in its Russian- and English-language versions in its coverage of Europe's reaction.

What this outcome meant for Brussels

For the EU, the election result was of fundamental importance because of the trade agreement with MERCOSUR — the bloc comprising Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, signed in January. The agreement was seen as a response to US President Donald Trump's punitive tariffs, and Brussels feared that Bolsonaro, who had called for breaking free from the 'shackles' of MERCOSUR and concluding separate deals, including with the United States, would put it at risk. Lula was closely associated with the agreement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa — they were among the first to offer congratulations. 'In Brazil, democracy and multilateralism have won', von der Leyen wrote; Costa spoke with Lula by phone personally on Sunday evening. Congratulations also came from Emmanuel Macron, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called the victory 'great' and drew a parallel with Spain's upcoming early elections: 'What happened in Brazil will also happen in Spain.'

Contesting the results and remaining disagreements

Flavio Bolsonaro, whose father Jair Bolsonaro is in prison for an attempted coup, is contesting the vote count and demanding that the election be annulled. According to him, the judicial authorities' decision to extend voting hours because of public transport delays and heavy rain was a 'dirty trick.' According to Euronews, a Bolsonaro victory would have cemented a rightward turn in a region where the Trump administration is trying to establish dominance under the so-called 'Donroe doctrine'; it is believed that it was Trump who helped bring the EU and Brazil closer together on the basis of free trade, the multilateral order and climate policy, including the Amazon. At the same time, the outlet notes persisting disagreements: as a BRICS member, Brazil maintains close ties with Moscow, including on the issue of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.