13 Jun (Reuters) – Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday that democracy was at risk, commenting on the far-right gains in the European Parliament after last weekend’s elections.
“We have a problem of democracy as we know it being at risk,” the head of state told journalists ahead of an International Labor Organization event in Geneva, Switzerland.
“The denialist denies institutions, denies what Parliament is, what the Supreme Court is, what the Judiciary is, what Congress itself is,” the leftist leader said.
Lula, who will take part in this week’s Group of Seven (G7) summit in Italy after he was invited by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, added that those who believe in democracy must fight to preserve it everywhere in the world.
In France, the far-right National Rally of Marine Le Pen won more than 31% of the vote, trouncing President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party – which scored just 14.6% – and prompting his surprise move to call a national parliamentary election.
In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany took second place with 15.9% of the vote, ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, who garnered 13.9% in their worst-ever result.
Despite the far-right’s surge in the European Parliament elections, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s centrist group won a majority of seats and began trying to piece together a coalition on Monday.
(Reporting by Eduardo Simoes; writing by Stéphanie Hamel; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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