Overview
- After a brief COP30 visit, the chancellor told a Berlin audience that no one in his traveling group wanted to stay in Belém and that they were glad to return to Germany.
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva countered that Belém and Pará offer far greater quality of life than Berlin, while the city’s mayor and Pará’s governor called the comment arrogant and prejudiced.
- Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius said no apology is planned and relations with Brazil are undamaged, and Merz later said he expects an untroubled conversation with Lula at the G20 in Johannesburg.
- Environment Minister Carsten Schneider praised Belém and its people, highlighted joint projects, and publicly sought to calm tensions, as Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil also played down the rift.
- German NGOs and opposition figures urged an apology, criticism grew over Merz’s unspecified ‘notable’ pledge to a tropical-forest fund, and a social-media storm included a now-deleted slur from Rio’s mayor.