World leaders on Monday reacted with shock to the storming of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace by thousands of supporters of far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro.

The rioters refused to acknowledge Mr Bolsonaro’s defeat in recent elections. The former president has not made a public statement explicitly conceding that he lost.

In a tweet addressed to Mr Bolsonaro’s successor, the left-wing Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, wrote he was “deeply concerned about the news of rioting and vandalism.

“Democratic traditions must be respected by everyone. We extend our full support to the Brazilian authorities.”

In Europe, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said on Monday that “the violent assaults on democratic institutions are an attack on democracy that cannot be tolerated” and that Berlin “stands with President Lula and Brazilians.”

European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, tweeted out her condemnation of “the assault on democracy in Brazil,” while European Council President, Charles Michel, wrote that Mr Lula was “democratically elected by millions of Brazilians through fair and free elections” and had the EU’s full support.

During the violence in Brasilia, Mr Bolsonaro supporters ransacked the National Congress building after busting through barricades, climbing on the roof and smashing windows.

They then directed their rage toward the nearby Supreme Court and the Palácio do Planalto, the official workplace of the president. It took security forces several hours to regain control of the area.

(dpa/NAN)