Switzerland hosts ‘second largest community of Portuguese emigrés’
Portugal Day celebrations continue in Switzerland today, with President Marcelo and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro celebrating June 10 with the second largest community of Portuguese emigrés in the world.
After celebrating in three districts of Leiria affected by the 2017 fires – Pedrógão Grande, Figueiró dos Vinhos and Castanheira de Pera – and in Coimbra (for the Luís de Camões relevance of the special day), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Luís Montenegro will be in Switzerland until tomorrow for what is their first trip abroad together.
Celebrations begin this afternoon in Geneva with a meeting with students learning Portuguese abroad, who will have the opportunity to ask Marcelo and Montenegro questions, followed by a meeting with the Portuguese community, which will culminate with a concert by fado singer Cuca Roseta.
Tomorrow, the agenda takes place in Zurich, but only after a ‘stopover’ in the capital, Bern, for a meeting and lunch with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Viola Amherd.
In Zurich, Marcelo and Luís Montenegro are scheduled to meet with representatives of the Portuguese community and with the community itself – the latter episode also ending with a musical moment, a classical music concert by young Portuguese musicians, which will close the programme of this double commemoration.
The parliamentary delegation for this ‘second part’ of Portugal Day celebrations is made up of MPs Hugo Carneiro (PSD), Pedro Coimbra (PS), Rui Paulo Sousa (CHEGA), Mariana Leitão (Liberal Initiative), Fabian Figueiredo (Left Bloc), Alfredo Maia (PCP), Paulo Muacho (LIVRE) and Paulo Núncio (CDS-PP).
When he took over as Head of State in 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa launched, in conjunction with then prime minister António Costa, the model of ‘double celebrations of June 10’ – first in Portugal and then with one of the many Portuguese communities abroad.
Switzerland is the 7th foreign country to host this celebration, after France (2016), Brazil (2017), the United States (2018), Cabo Verde (2019), the United Kingdom (2022) and South Africa (2023), while in 2020 and 2021 there were only ceremonies in Portugal due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The country’s president, who already made an official trip to Switzerland in 2016, has further commitments on Swiss territory at the end of the week: he will lead the Portuguese delegation to the Peace Summit for Ukraine that is scheduled to take place near Lucerne on Friday and Saturday, and to which he will be accompanied by Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel.
Source: LUSA
