The President of France and the German chancellor are calling for immediate talks on the Amazon fires at the G7 summit but Brazil’s president is accusing the European leaders of colonialism.

Following French President Emmanuel Macron’s call to make the Amazon fires a priority amongst agendas at the G7 summit to take place this weekend, German chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed her support. Merkel is reportedly ‘convinced of emergency’ regarding the devastation of the Amazon rainforest. Macron earlier dubbed the situation as a global crisis that needs to be addressed immediately.

The German chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Seibert released a statement to Berlin journalist on Friday saying: “The extent of the fires in the Amazon area is shocking and threatening, not only for Brazil and the other affected countries but also for the whole world.”

“When the G7 comes together this weekend, then the chancellor is convinced that this acute emergency in the Amazon rainforest belongs on the agenda,” Seibert adds.

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro was enraged by Macron’s intervention accusing the president of France of taking advantage of the situation for “personal political gain”. Read the Bolsonaro’s statement below that he posted on Twitter:

“I regret that President Macron seeks to take advantage of what is a domestic Brazilian issue and of other Amazonian countries for personal political gain.”

In a second Tweet he posted, Bolsonaro accused Macron of colonialism writing: “The French president’s suggestion that Amazonian matters be discussed at the G7 without the involvement of countries of the region recalls the colonialist mindset that is unacceptable in the 21st century.”