Inaugural Brazilian Ministerial Visit Highlights Historic Links With Luxembourg

On Friday 5 June 2026, Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel hosted Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mauro Vieira, for a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, on bilateral relations between Luxembourg and Brazil, as well as key international issues.

Minister Bettel began by warmly welcoming his counterpart on what marked the first visit from a Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Grand Duchy and noted that diplomatic relations between the countries extend back to 1911.

The minister also spoke of the deep history between the two countries, including the migration of significant numbers of Luxembourgers to Brazil in the mid-19th century and the subsequent establishment by European settlers of the village of Luxemburgo in the state of Espirito Santo in south-eastern Brazil.

Minister Bettel remarked that following Luxembourg’s opening of an embassy in Brasilia in 2018, there are currently 33,205 Luxembourgish citizens in the country. He detailed that the embassy had received around 2,500 passport and 1,000 identity card requests in 2025, leading to a strengthening of the consular team in Brazil, and revealed that before the end of the Luxembourg government’s current mandate, a Consul General to Brazil will be assigned.

Conversely, Minister Bettel detailed that there are currently around 3,700 Brazilians in Luxembourg and approximately 10,000 when including Brazilians with another nationality.

Minister Bettel said: “We have a different continent, we have different sizes, we have a different language, we have a different population in terms of size, and yet we have a long-standing relationship between our countries marked by a regular political dialogue, a common history and human relations that are very close.”

In terms of business of connections between the countries, Minister Bettel highlighted the 70 Luxembourgish companies present in Brazil today, as well as the presence of six of Brazil’s largest banks in Luxembourg.

The topic then turned to international law, multilateralism and the importance of the ratification of the Mercosur trade deal, which has faced opposition from environmental groups, including Greenpeace Luxembourg. 

The Deputy Prime Minister noted: “We must not enter into a situation where it must be a winner against a loser. It must be an opportunity for the economies of the European Union, and also for the countries of the Mercosur, and also an opening, a sign of opening up for each other, to avoid having a world that is already fragmented at the political level, and also a world that is fragmented at the economic level, and this is in the interest of no one.”

Minister Bettel also revealed that the government is currently assessing the possibility of an economic mission to Brazil in 2027, following Luxembourg's Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, undertaking a financial mission to Brazil in 2025.

In his comments, Minister Vieira also spoke of the significance of his visit to Luxembourg as the first from a Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, which he said, “testifies to the dynamism of relations between our two countries.”

Minister Vieira emphasised that Luxembourg has “remarkable commercial and productive expertise” and offers Brazil unique opportunities for growth and diversification, with commercial trade of $160 million (€137.5 million) in 2025 marking a significant progression compared to the previous year. 

He said: “The structure of exports and imports reflects the sophisticated nature of our relationship with a predominance of products of high added value on both sides.”

In response to Minister Bettel’s comments on the Brazilian population in Luxembourg, Minister Vieira noted: “We are attentive to the needs of the thousands of Brazilians living in the country and I thank the Luxembourg authorities for the close cooperation maintained in consular matters.”

Minister Vieira then addressed the Mercosur trade deal and thanked the Luxembourg government for its support of the agreement, which “represents an historic opportunity to deepen the economic, political and social links between the Mercosur and the European Union”.

On Brazil’s relationship with Luxembourg, he added: “We share the commitment to multilateralism, international law and the search for solutions to the major global challenges. I leave this meeting with the renewed conviction that relations between Brazil and Luxembourg are going through a good phase with a substantial and solid agenda that is the basis for the continued deepening of the partnership.”

Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu

Caption: (L-R) nc; Xavier Bettel; Luxembourg Deputy Prime and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Mauro Vieira, Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil