Merz and Lula open the 2026 edition of Hannover Messe

Lula da Silva, leader of this year’s Hannover Messe partner country Brazil, arrived at the congress centre to a warm welcome from German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday. According to Merz, the fair demonstrated that the countries “are committed to a multilateral order, that we want a rules-based economic system, and that they want this cooperation with as few tariffs as possible, ideally none at all,” he said.

Both welcomed the entry into force of the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement on May 1. Lula said he wanted to discuss the full range of economic cooperation with Merz, including artificial intelligence, critical minerals and data centers.