Macron and Lula's 'bromance' goes viral during French PM's Brazil visit

Social media has delighted in new photos released of French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during a diplomatic visit that make the pair look like a happy couple rather than two world leaders.

During Macron's three-day visit to Brazil, the pair were pictured holding hands and embracing one another in the Amazon rainforest.

The images have been circulated widely on social media as many couldn't believe these were diplomatic images and not 'save the date' cards.

One picture shows the leaders running through the forest holding hands together while another shows them embracing on a boat, with Macron staring affectionately towards Lula.

"Every picture of Macron with other world leaders looks like a happy gay couple," one user wrote on X / Twitter.

Another said it looked like the pair 'are having a whirlwind honeymoon'.

The images were also compared to 'engagement photos' by some.

One user pointed out almost all of Macron's photos with world leaders show similar levels of affection and included photos to prove it.

"Find someone to look at you the way Macron looks at his foreign counterparts," one user joked.

The affectionate photos mark a change of relations between Brazil and France, which used to be frosty with Brazil's former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro who was in office from 2019 to 2022.

President Macron is currently on a three-day tour of Brazil, concluding in the country’s capital of Brasilia on March 28, amid ongoing discussions around a free trade deal between the European Union and South American trade bloc Mercosur – the current proposal was described as a “terrible deal” for both parties in a speech on Wednesday.

Macron is opposed to any agreement with Mercosur while South American producers do not meet the same environmental and health standards followed by their European counterparts.

The bloc comprises Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

On March 26 both Lula and Macron announced they plan to invest €1 billion ($1.1 billion) into the Amazon rainforest including parts located in neighbouring French Guiana.

The cash injection, spread over the next four years, will see state-run banks in Brazilian banks and France's investment agency collaborate to protect the rainforest.

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