The Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, met on Monday with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on the first day of the latter’s official itinerary in Portugal.
The Portuguese news agency Lusa reports that the Brazilian leader, popularly known as Lula, was received with military honours at Praça do Império before laying a wreath on the tomb of Luís de Camões.
At least 13 bilateral agreements are expected to come from Lula’s visit, covering areas from space exploration to the mutual recognition of educational qualifications.
[See more: Lula reiterates calls for a new trading currency among BRICS nations]
The two countries share close cultural, linguistic and historical ties, with as many as 300,000 Brazilians estimated to be living in Portugal. Despite these links, Lula’s predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, snubbed Lisbon and there has not been a Portugal-Brazilian summit since 2016 when Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa met with Brazil’s then-President Michel Temer.
Lula is eager for a diplomatic reset among Brazil’s major partners, most notably forging a warm relationship with Beijing.
His visit to Lisbon is “part of the relaunch of Brazil’s diplomatic relations with its main partners, as was the case with the visit to China, 10 days ago, and to the United States, Argentina and Uruguay at the beginning of this government”, the Lula administration said in a statement.
