Portugal’s PM-designate assures von der Leyen of political stability

Portugal’s political stability is not at risk, Prime Minister-designate Luís Montenegro of the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) assured EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday, promising “responsibility” to the EU.

“There is no reason to question the stability of the country, the stability of a government solution which, although it doesn’t have an absolute majority in parliament, has the trust of the voters,” emphasised Montenegro.

Speaking to Portuguese journalists in Brussels after a meeting with von der Leyen, the PSD leader stressed:

“There is no reason, either internal or external, to doubt the capacity of a stable government, which will responsibly fulfil all its commitments to Portuguese voters, those who made a choice for change on 10 March, and also to the international institutions, at the head of which is the EU.”

“I had the opportunity to explain to her the context in which I was appointed prime minister, and I am currently committed to presenting the President of the Republic with a proposal for the composition of the government,” Montenegro said.

In this brief meeting with von der Leyen – his first official act since being asked to form a government by the Portuguese president on Wednesday night – Montenegro told reporters “some of the points of view that concern [him] and also motivate [him] in terms of governance for the coming period”.

He also insisted that “Portugal’s full participation in the EU is assured.”

“We have no doubt about the role we have to play within the Union in building a more united Europe, more cohesive from a social point of view, with the ability to offer citizens the highest quality of life, with economic growth that also ensures that the welfare state is not jeopardised, with the approach to other issues that are important from today’s point of view, support for Ukraine [in the face of the Russian invasion], which we have always faced without any reservations,” he said.

Montenegro was asked about the first measures to be taken or the composition of his future executive, but he declined to comment.

The prime minister-designate is in Brussels to attend an EPP summit. After exchanging greetings with Portugal’s outgoing prime minister, António Costa of the Socialist Party, Montenegro will later meet European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, also of the EPP.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa appointed Montenegro as prime minister in the early hours of Thursday during an audience held shortly after midnight on Wednesday.

(Ana Matos Neves | Lusa.pt)