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Overview
- The planned Dec. 20 signing was postponed after a EU request, with Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa telling Lula they expect approval in January and Lula saying Giorgia Meloni signaled readiness early in the month while France cannot block the pact alone.
- Lula attributed the holdup to internal European disputes over agricultural funding and pressure from farmers in Italy and France.
- The summit ended without a joint leaders’ declaration because of disagreements on Venezuela, and Argentina, Paraguay and several associates issued a separate communiqué on democracy and human rights that Brazil did not sign.
- Lula warned that an armed intervention in Venezuela would be a humanitarian catastrophe and a dangerous precedent, while Argentina’s Javier Milei welcomed U.S. pressure led by Donald Trump and denounced Nicolás Maduro as a “narcoterrorist.”
- With the Mercosur presidency passing to Paraguay, Lula criticized Europe’s lack of political will and said the bloc will keep advancing talks with partners including EFTA, India, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Vietnam.