Luís Montenegro has three days in the US before returning to Portugal to settle budget controversy
Far from being available to tour fire-damaged municipalities (as PS secretary general Pedro Nuno Santos has suggested) Portugal’s prime minister, Luís Montenegro, is the other side of the Atlantic this morning, meeting with UN secretary-general António Guterres in New York where he will also take part in an event organised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with countries that have signed security agreements with Ukraine.
Luís Montenegro arrived in the United States yesterday evening – early morning time in Lisbon – for the annual general debate between heads of state and government of the 193 member countries of the United Nations (UN).
Today, before meeting António Guterres, the head of the PSD/CDS-PP government will take part in a high-level panel on ocean sustainability and an open UN Security Council debate on leadership for peace.
According to the programme released by the prime minister’s office, at the event organised by Volodymyr Zelenskyy with countries that have signed security agreements with Ukraine, a joint declaration will be adopted which Portugal will sign.
In between, Mr Montenegro will take part in a working lunch of the Leaders’ Group of the Paris Pact for People and the Planet (4P).
At the end of the day, the prime minister will attend the customary reception offered by US President Joe Biden to the heads of state and government taking part in the UN General Assembly.
His first speech to the UN General Assembly is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, the third day of the general debate of this 79th annual session, which began on Tuesday.
Against the backdrop of the fires in Portugal last week, Luís Montenegro decided to cut short the duration of his trip to New York, initially scheduled for between Monday and Thursday.
The head of the PSD/CDS-PP government plans to take advantage of this trip for two meetings with representatives of Portuguese emigrant communities. He was in Mineola, Long Island, as soon as he arrived in the United States yesterday, and will be in Newark on Thursday evening before leaving to return to Portugal.
Also in New York is minister of foreign affairs, Paulo Rangel, who on Monday represented Portugal at the Summit of the Future, organised by the UN secretary-general.
The theme of this session of the UN General Assembly is ‘Leaving no one behind: acting together to advance peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations’.
Portugal’s representation at the annual general debate at the United Nations has alternated between the country’s president and prime minister.
In 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023 it was the current head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who travelled to New York. In 2017, 2020 and 2022 it was former prime minister, António Costa, who addressed the General Assembly.
Portugal, which in 2016 launched António Guterres’ successful bid to become UN secretary-general, in the meantime reappointed in 2021 and with a mandate until the end of 2026, is a candidate for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in the 2027-28 biennium.
LUSA
