247 - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva harshly criticized, this Sunday (6), the planned increase in military spending by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), after the United States, governed by Donald Trump, demanded that the countries of the military alliance spend at least 5% of GDP on defense.

Lula spoke at the opening of the BRICS Summit at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro, RJ. Before the event, the president received a number of world leaders and heads of delegations, who are also scheduled to speak.

"NATO's recent decision fuels the arms race... It is easier to allocate 5% of GDP to military spending than to allocate the 0.7% promised for Official Development Assistance," criticized Lula.

The president also used his speech to directly criticize the use of the IAEA, which has been criticized by Iran for alleged pro-Israeli interference in the Islamic Republic, amid the ceasefire between the countries after the"12-Day War".

"Old rhetorical maneuvers are recycled to justify illegal interventions... The instrumentalization of the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency puts at risk the reputation of an organization that is fundamental for peace," said Lula, according to the full text of the official speech released by the Planalto Palace:

For the fourth time, Brazil hosts a BRICS Summit.

Of all of them, this is the one that occurs in the most adverse global scenario.

The UN turned 80 on June 26 and we have witnessed an unparalleled collapse of multilateralism.

The advent of the UN marked the defeat of Nazi-fascism and the birth of a collective hope.

The vast majority of countries that today make up BRICS were its founding members.

Ten years later, the Bandung Conference refuted the division of the world into zones of influence and advanced the struggle for a multipolar international order.

BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement.

With multilateralism under attack, our autonomy is once again under threat.

Hard-won advances, such as climate and trade regimes, are under threat.

In the wake of the worst health crisis in decades, the global health system is facing an unprecedented onslaught.

Absurd intellectual property requirements still restrict access to medicines.

International law has become a dead letter, along with the peaceful settlement of disputes.

We are facing an unprecedented number of conflicts since the Second World War.

NATO's recent decision fuels arms race.

It is easier to allocate 5% of GDP to military spending than to allocate the promised 0.7% to Official Development Assistance.

This shows that the resources to implement the 2030 Agenda exist, but are not available due to a lack of political priority.

It is always easier to invest in war than in peace.

The UN Security Council meetings reproduce a plot whose outcome we all know: loss of credibility and paralysis.

Lately, it is not even consulted before the start of military actions.

Old rhetorical maneuvers are recycled to justify illegal interventions.

As happened in the past with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the instrumentalization of the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency puts at stake the reputation of an organization that is fundamental to peace.

The fear of a nuclear catastrophe has returned to everyday life.

Recurrent violations of the territorial integrity of States, to the detriment of negotiated solutions, undermine efforts to prevent the proliferation of atomic weapons.

Without support from international law, the failure of actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria is likely to be repeated in an even more serious way.

Its consequences for the stability of the Middle East and North Africa, especially in the Sahel, were disastrous and are still felt today.

In the void of these unresolved crises, terrorism has found fertile ground.

The ideology of hate cannot be associated with any religion or nationality.

Brazil condemned the attacks in Kashmir.

Absolutely nothing justifies the terrorist actions perpetrated by Hamas.

But we cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza and the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.

The solution to this conflict will only be possible with the end of the Israeli occupation and the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

The Brazilian government denounced violations of Iran's territorial integrity, as it had already done in the case of Ukraine.

It is urgent that the parties involved in the war in Ukraine deepen direct dialogue with a view to a ceasefire and lasting peace.

The Group of Friends for Peace, created by China and Brazil and which includes the participation of countries from the Global South, seeks to identify possible paths to an end to hostilities.

Very serious crises in other parts of the world continue to be ignored by the international community.

In Haiti we had MINUSTAH, but the international community abandoned the country prematurely. Brazil supports the urgent expansion of the role of the UN Mission in the country, combining security and development actions.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In the eight decades of operation of the United Nations, not everything has been a failure.

The organization was central to the decolonization process.

The prohibition of the use of biological and chemical weapons is an example of what a commitment to multilateralism can achieve.

The success of UN missions in Timor-Leste demonstrates that it is possible to promote peace and stability.

Latin America has chosen, since 1968, to be a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone.

The African Union also consolidates its leading role in the prevention and resolution of conflicts that afflict that continent.

If international governance does not reflect the new multipolar reality of the 21st century, it is up to BRICS to contribute to its updating.

Its representativeness and diversity make it a force capable of promoting peace and preventing and mediating conflicts.

We can lay the foundations for reinvigorated governance.

To overcome the crisis of confidence we are facing, we need to profoundly transform the Security Council.

Make it more legitimate, representative, effective and democratic.

Include new permanent members from Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

It's more than a matter of justice.

It is to ensure the very survival of the UN.

This is the spirit of the “Call to Action on Global Governance Reform” launched by the Brazilian G20 presidency.

Delaying this process makes the world more unstable and dangerous.

Every day we spend with an archaic and exclusionary international structure is a day lost in solving the serious crises that plague humanity.