European Council President António Costa will miss a high-profile meeting in Brazil on Friday after his flight was unexpectedly canceled, his office confirmed, but he remains on track to attend the long-awaited signing of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement in Paraguay.
Costa had been scheduled to travel Thursday evening from Brussels to São Paulo on a Lufthansa flight via Frankfurt. However, while boarding in Brussels, his delegation was informed that the second leg of the journey had been canceled, causing a delay of approximately 12 hours. The disruption made it impossible for Costa to arrive in time for the planned meeting in Rio de Janeiro with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Rio meeting was intended in part as a political gesture of thanks to Lula for his role in advancing the Mercosur deal, which had faced hurdles during last December’s European Council summit. At that meeting, a last-minute intervention by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni forced EU leaders, including Costa and von der Leyen, to postpone a signing ceremony originally scheduled in Brazil.
Costa’s spokesperson said that after learning of the cancellation, the European Council delegation did not proceed to Frankfurt and immediately began exploring alternative travel arrangements.
Despite missing the Rio talks, Costa is expected to attend the formal signing of the EU-Mercosur agreement in Asunción, Paraguay, on Saturday at 1 p.m. local time (5 p.m. Brussels time). The agreement, decades in the making, aims to deepen trade ties between the EU and South America’s largest trade bloc, covering goods, services, and sustainable development commitments.
Although Costa and von der Leyen were part of the same negotiating team, the European Council and European Commission delegations traveled separately to South America. For security reasons, the European Commission declined to provide details of von der Leyen’s travel but confirmed that she had already arrived in Brazil ahead of Friday’s meeting with Lula and the upcoming signing ceremony.
Costa’s presence in Paraguay is expected to mark a symbolic milestone in EU-Mercosur relations, even as logistical challenges underscore the complexities of international diplomacy.
