Statement by President Lula at the XIV Brazil-Portugal Summit - 02/20/2025

It is with great joy that I reciprocate the hospitality with which my delegation and I were received in Lisbon in 2023, coinciding with the April 25 celebrations, which are so special to Portugal and the Lusophone world.

This fourteenth summit inaugurates an intense season for Brazilian foreign policy this year.

In 2025, we assumed the presidencies of the BRICS, COP30, and Mercosur.

Portugal was the first European country I visited in my third term.

Receiving Prime Minister Luis Montenegro is the best way to celebrate the 200 years of partnership and of the “most perfect friendship”, we complete in 2025.

Today we signed twenty agreements to facilitate our cooperation and benefit our societies.

We talked about bilateral trade, which reached 4.7 billion dollars last year.

The exchange with Portugal is acquiring a diversified profile with the integration of relevant productive chains that favor the export of Brazilian products with greater aggregate value.

We expect this relationship to deepen even more when the MERCOSUR-European Union Agreement comes into force.

While commercial protectionism gains strength in the world, we demonstrate the power of integration.

There is no question that the Agreement will bring benefits for both blocs.

It will mean access to cheaper goods and services, an increase in investments, and renewed cooperation to protect the environment without harming Brazil’s neo-industrialization policy.

The Defense sector demonstrates the potential of these synergies with the acquisition of C390 Millennium e Super Tucano aircraft by the Portuguese Air Force.

Taking advantage of the opportunities that will arise from this new stage will be the main task of the Office that APEX is opening in Lisbon.

The presence of Fiocruz in Portugal will allow for advancements in joint research to produce medications and radiopharmaceuticals, in the fields of infectious diseases, biomedicine, and others.

We discussed aspects related to addressing climate change. Our countries have much to contribute for the energy transition.

We launched a Digital Dialog to deepen the discussions on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

Advancing the fight against extremism and its new faces, which have proliferated especially in the digital world, is a shared urgency.

Portugal and Brazil work with similar visions about regulating large technology companies and combating disinformation.

Cooperation also extends to a very concrete concern from our citizens about combating transnational crime, which has been the object of agreements signed today by the Ministry of Justice, the Federal Police, and the Federal Highway Police.

We held a very honest conversation on how to improve the lives of our expatriate communities.

Over these 200 years, many Portuguese citizens have come to live and establish their roots in our country, inasmuch as many Brazilians have moved to Portugal and constituted bonds there.

I stated to Prime Minister Montenegro that we need to deconstruct the false narrative that associates Brazilian immigration to increased levels of criminality in Portugal.

We know that there is no room for racism and xenophobia among us.

Portugal has been Brazil’s longstanding partner in efforts to revitalize multilateralism and strengthen a multipolar order.

For this reason, I did not hesitate in inviting Prime Minister Luis Montenegro to the G20 Summit, in Rio de Janeiro.

I would like to thank Portugal once again for adhering to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and for its work as Vice President of the Council of Alliance Champions.

When some choose competition and war, our countries point the way toward dialogue and peace.

In Gaza or in Ukraine, violence must stop and open space for a long-lasting peace.

I reiterated to the Prime Minister Brazil's commitment to CPLP [the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries].

It is my desire that our Community continues to inspire good governance practices and respect for human rights, and that our brother countries persevere in the path to peace, democracy, and development.

I am certain that we will continue walking together to build a fairer, freer, and more prosperous world.

Once again, I want to thank Prime Minister Montenegro for his visit and reiterate my commitment to the continuous development of bonds between Brazil and Portugal in all fields.

The future of the planet requires everyone, without exception, to follow through with the commitments made in the Paris Agreement and align ambition and financing.

I hope, Prime Minister, to welcome you soon at COP30, in the beautiful City of Belém, in the state of Pará.

Thank you very much.