In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government said that it "notes with regret the decision of the United States of America to leave the Human Rights Council, a body on which it has had a seat ... since 2017 whose term would end on 31 December of 2019,” the statement said, adding that Portugal still hopes that the decision by a “friendly country, ally and pioneer in the defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms, can be reconsidered.”

The statement described the departure from the council of any member state as "a loss for all" given that “it is through the active participation in the various agencies and bodies that constitutes the United Nations system, as well as ... through dialogue between States that differences can be overcome.”

For its part, Portugal "values greatly” the council's role “in the promotion and protection of human rights in the whole world” - hence its commitment to participating in it.

“Portugal is a firm defender of a reinforced multilateral system, anchored in the three pillars of the United Nations system and in a far-reaching and cross-cutting concept of peace, promoting at the same time human rights and sustainable development," summed up the statement, which also noted that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The US on Tuesday announced that it was withdrawing its participation on the UN council, which it accuses of "hypocrisy" and prejudice against Israel.

In its statement, the Portuguese government made no reference to the controversy over the separation by US border officials of families of migrants illegally crossing from Mexico, a measure that has drawn widespread criticism from human rights defenders.

On Thursday Portugal's minister of foreign affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, is to meet his US counterparty, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in Washington.