EU Condemns Violence In Brasilia, Declares Full Support For President Lula

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th January, 2023) The European Union has expressed support for Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva amid unrest in Brazil's capital, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

On Sunday, Brazilian media reported that supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro seized the Congress building in Brasilia, with police dispersing them with gas and noise grenades. Protesters also attacked Palacio do Planalto, one of the official palaces of the Presidency, as well as the Supreme Court building.

"The EU condemns in the strongest terms the anti-democratic acts of violence that took place on Sunday, 8 January, in the heart of Brasilia's government quarter," Borrell said in a Sunday statement, adding that the "EU reiterates its full support to President Lula and to the Brazilian democratic system and expresses solidarity with the democratic institutions targeted by this attack."

Borrell said that political differences need to be resolved within Brazil's democratic institutions and not through violence and expressed confidence that Brazilian democracy will prevail.

"Brazilian political leaders, and especially former President Bolsonaro, need to act responsibly and urge their supporters to go home," Borrell said.

President of the European Council Charles Michel also condemned the Sunday unrest in Brasilia.

"My absolute condemnation of the assault on the democratic institutions of Brazil. Full support for President Lula Da Silva, democratically elected by millions of Brazilians through fair and free elections," Charles Michel said on Twitter.

Earlier, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that US President Joe Biden was closely following the situation in Brazil, and that Washington condemns the Sunday violence. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed support for Lula in a Twitter post.

Lula has called the attacks on government buildings in Brasilia barbaric and ordered the use of federal forces to restore order in the capital. The federal intervention in Brazil's Federal District will last until January 31, according to Lula's decree that was read out by him on Sunday from Sao Paulo.

On January 1, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was sworn in and started his third term as president of Brazil. He won the presidential election in the runoff on October 30, defeating Bolsonaro by a close margin, prompting countrywide protests from supporters of the former Brazilian president.