Luís Montenegro was speaking to journalists before a working lunch with António Costa at the official residence in São Bento, just days after his predecessor as Prime Minister of Portugal was elected to the role of President of the European Council.

Speaking to journalists, in a statement without the right to questions, the current Prime Minister highlighted that António Costa received “overwhelming trust” among the leaders of the 27 Member States for a “highly demanding” role.

“The Portuguese Government will be fully available for collaboration and cooperation, knowing that it will be no more or less than what is expected of the other 26 Member States. However, it is important to say out loud that the Portuguese Government will always have the necessary spirit of cooperation so that, at the European Council, consensus, convergence or majorities can be reached to advance a political project of peace and prosperity,” he stressed.

In his opening remarks, with António Costa at his side, the current Prime Minister considered that it would not be “wrong” if he spoke on behalf of Portugal and the Portuguese people in the hope that his predecessor as head of the Portuguese Government would be successful in carrying out his duties as President of the European Council.

“We both know that the demands of this role are enormous. I witnessed the overwhelming trust he received at the [last] European Council meeting, which shows that some of the characteristics that have been stated over the last few weeks as being the most important for the exercise of the role have a general consensus in the European Union, particularly among its leaders. This suggests that, despite the difficulties, the work that António Costa will carry out will certainly be positive”, he maintained.

Luís Montenegro then congratulated the fact that there is “another Portuguese in a very important position”, in this case in the European Union, with whom Portugal shares many decisions”.

Regarding the agenda that awaits António Costa, Luís Montenegro highlighted the implementation of the 2024/2029 strategic agenda, “primarily the objective of a possible enlargement with major implications from the point of view of the reform of European institutions”.

The leader of the executive also spoke about the negotiations for the next multi-annual financial framework with new requirements, “knowing that Portugal has its own strategic interests, namely the maintenance of cohesion policies and the country's participation in new financing processes for common projects and for leveraging the economies of the Member States”, he pointed out.

In his statement, the Prime Minister also mentioned that Portugal had added some items to its strategic agenda, one of which was related to water policy – ​​“a strategic objective for Portugal”.

Regarding the war in Ukraine, Luís Montenegro made a point of stressing that Portugal, “since the time of António Costa's Government, has been at the forefront of building cooperation between the Member States of the European Union in the pillar” of defence and security.

“We are committed to continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine”, he stressed, before referring to the Middle East, a point on which he considered that Portugal, in terms of its political structures and diplomacy, “has the credentials to act as an important mediator”.

“This is one of the most tragic conflicts the world is experiencing,” he noted, before assuring that Portugal will seek to deepen its relations with countries in South America, the United States, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and China.

“All these relations will require intervention from the Member States and also from the President of the European Council, which will be greatly valued by the choice that was made,” he added.