Macron accuses Brazil's president of having "lied" about climate at G20

Source: Xinhua| 2019-08-23 20:53:25|Editor: xuxin
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PARIS, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron believed that his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro has "lied" about his commitments to climate change, French media reported on Friday, quoting a statement released by Macron's office.

Under these conditions, France was opposed to the free trade agreement between the European Union and South American nations, the statement said.

"Given the attitude of Brazil in recent weeks, the President of the Republic can only note that the President Bolsonaro lied to him at the Summit (G20, Ed) of Osaka," Macron's office said in the statement.

"President Bolsonaro has decided neither to respect his climate commitments nor to commit to biodiversity ... In these circumstances, France opposes the Mercosur agreement," it said, referring to the EU-Mercosur trade deal.

Macron called on Thursday evening the Amazon wildfires an international crisis, saying that the leaders of the Group of Seven nations should hold urgent discussions about them at their summit in France this weekend.

In response, Bolsonaro said that the French president's call to bring the Amazon fire topic to the G7 summit will not help but only aims to blame Brazil.

"Some countries are taking advantage of the moment to increase their criticism of Brazil in order to damage agribusiness and our economy," Bolsonaro said on Twitter and his weekly Facebook live video.

"I am sorry that President Macron is using an internal matter of Brazil and other countries in the Amazon region for personal political gains. The sensationalist tone he used does nothing to help," Bolsonaro said.

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