Meloni convinces Lula to postpone Mercosur-EU agreement, confirms German government.

The German Chancellery confirmed this Friday, the 19th, that the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, convinced President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to postpone the signing of the free trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union.

The negotiations had been conducted under pressure, after Lula declared that the treaty should be finalized "now or never".

Meloni and Lula spoke by phone on Thursday, the 18th. In the call, the Italian Prime Minister asked the Brazilian president for "patience." According to Berlin, she argued that she needed additional time to address the issue with her government and the Italian Parliament.

"There were direct contacts between Lula and Meloni, and the Italian Prime Minister managed to convince Lula that we still need two to three weeks," said Sebastian Hille, spokesman for the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz.

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The German government is one of the main advocates for concluding the agreement with Mercosur within the European Union. The signing of the treaty, scheduled for December, has been postponed to January.

President Lula had already commented on the conversation with Meloni during a press conference. According to him, the Prime Minister explained that she faces internal pressure in the agricultural sector, but that she is not opposed to the agreement.

"She explained to me that she is not against the agreement, that she is experiencing a certain political embarrassment because of the Italian farmers, but that she is certain she is capable of convincing them to accept the agreement," Lula declared.

Besides Italy, the treaty also faces resistance from France and Poland. Both countries are major agricultural exporters and fear competition from South American nations.