Europe threatens sanctions if Bolsonaro does not respect Brazil election result

Brazilians go to the polls on Sunday

Waving goodbye? Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro (Getty)

European politicians have said sanctions should be brought against Brazil if right-wing populist president Jair Bolsonaro refuses to recognise the result of the country’s general election, which has its first round of voting on Sunday.

Bolsonaro is widely expected to lose and fears have been growing that he will not accept defeat, but instead claim he has been cheated out of victory in a move already likened to the approach adopted by Donald Trump after he lost the US presidential election in 2020.

That ultimately led to the violence in Washington DC on 6 January 2021, after a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol building. Similar scenes are now feared in Brazil.