Macron, Lula hail defense ties at submarine launch

The two men highlighted the importance of their countries' defensepartnership during a time of major global unrest, at a ceremony at Brazil'sultra-modern naval base in Itaguai near Rio de Janeiro.
It is here that Brazil built the Tonelero, the third of four plannedconventional diesel attack submarines, with training, equipment, andtechnical assistance from France, reports BSS.
Under cloudy skies, the submarine was christened by First Lady Rosangela daSilva, nicknamed "Janja."
France and Brazil's defense ties "will allow two important countries, each ona continent, to prepare so that we can face this adversity, without worryingabout any type of war, because we are defenders of peace," said Lula.
Despite differences, notably on the Ukraine war, Macron said "the greatpeaceful powers of Brazil and France" had "the same vision of the world."
Macron is on a whirlwind tour of Brazil, a major economic ally, which kickedoff Tuesday with the launch of a plan to raise over a billion dollars ingreen investments to protect the Brazilian and Guyanese Amazon.
- Jungle bromance -
The visit, the first by a French president to Latin America's economic giantin over a decade, is also a move to reset ties which had deterioratedsignificantly under former president Jair Bolsonaro.
A warm meeting between Macron and Lula in the Amazon, in which the two menwere pictured beaming and clasping hands in the jungle, spawned a raft ofinternet memes about their bromance.
The cozy scenes -- a far cry from the days Bolsonaro lobbed insults atMacron's wife -- continued Wednesday at the submarine launch.
With its 8,500 kilometers of coastline, Brazil is seeking to ensure thesecurity of what it calls the "blue Amazon," its immense exclusive economiczone through which more than 95 percent of its foreign trade passes and whereit extracts 95 percent of its oil.
The construction of the submarines was outlined in a 2008 deal between Lulaand former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which also included the purchaseof 50 Caracal helicopters.
The fourth submarine, the Angostura, will be launched in 2025.
- France skirts around nuclear sub -
Brazil is also planning to build its first nuclear-powered submarine, theAlvaro Alberto, a project that has suffered significant delays, mainly due tobudget constraints.
The French naval defense manufacturer Naval Group is supporting the designand construction of the submarine, except for the nuclear boiler which isbeing designed by the Brazilians.
Brasilia is however trying to convince Paris to increase technology transfersto help it integrate the reactor into the submarine and sell it equipmentlinked to nuclear propulsion.
France has been reticent to transfer such technology due to the challenges ofnuclear proliferation.
"If Brazil wants to have access to knowledge of nuclear technology, it is notto wage war. We want this knowledge to assure all countries that want peacethat Brazil will be at their side," said Lula.
Macron told Brazil "France will be at your side" during the development ofthe nuclear-powered submarines, without announcing specific assistance.
"I want us to open the chapter for new submarines... that we look nuclearpropulsion in the face while being perfectly respectful of all non-proliferation commitments," he said.
Later on Wednesday, Macron arrived in the economic capital Sao Paulo, andblasted the long-stalled free trade agreement between the European Union andSouth America's Mercosur bloc.
The deal, which has recently run into fierce resistance from Europeanfarmers, "as it is negotiated today is a really bad agreement, for you andfor us," Macron told an economic forum in the southeastern city.
"Let's build a new agreement ... one which is responsible from a development,climate and biodiversity point of view," he said of the pact, negotiationsfor which originally began 25 years ago.
After an agreement was reached in 2019, final approval of the deal was thenblocked amid opposition from several countries including France, even asnations such as Spain, Germany and Brazil have championed its adoption.