Mme Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, will go to Brazil on 8 and 9 February 2023.
This visit, a month after Mr Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office, aims to forge closer ties in all areas between France and Brazil, which are linked by a strategic partnership and share the same democratic values, those of peace and promoting multilateralism to tackle global challenges.
In Brasília, the Minister will be received by Mr Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil. She will speak to her counterpart Mr Mauro Vieira, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ms Marina Silva, Minister of the Environment. During the talks, the prospects for strengthening the bilateral relationship, especially in terms of economic, scientific, academic and defence cooperation will be discussed. Cross-border cooperation will be a focus of attention, with France sharing its longest land border with Brazil.
The Minister will have in-depth talks with all her interlocutors about our two countries' shared commitment to the environment and the ecological transition, in the run-up to the One Forest Summit, the next COPs and the summit of Amazon countries.
She will also revisit the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and the need to work jointly to restore Ukraine's peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity. She will discuss with her interlocutors the consequences of the conflict for the most vulnerable countries and ways of providing solutions to them together. The situations in Venezuela and Haiti and other regional issues will also be on the agenda.
In São Paulo the Minister will also meet representatives of the business community and French nationals in Brazil. With more than 1,100 businesses, France is the third-largest direct foreign investor in the country. Finally, she will have meetings with several Brazilian intellectuals to discuss the issue of women's rights, in the framework of the feminist diplomacy conducted by France.