Prime Minister António Costa announced this Saturday that French President Emmanuel Macron will make a state visit to Portugal in 2023, defending that the two countries share a common European and global vision.
António Costa spoke at a joint press conference with French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, in Palácio Foz, in Lisbon, in which he did not respond to a question about whether he had political confidence in his Foreign Minister Miguel Alves about his performance as mayor after the news. from Caminha.
“Next year we will have a state visit by President Emmanuel Macron to Portugal and in the meantime the two governments will work so that we can increasingly strengthen the conditions for bilateral cooperation, in the European Union and on a global scale. We share a common vision of what Europe’s presence in the world as a whole,” the Portuguese executive insisted.
With regard to external relations, the Portuguese Prime Minister referred mainly to relations with countries on the African continent, an idea also mentioned by Elisabeth Borne.
“Together we will continue to work,” he insisted.
In the presence of journalists, Elisabeth Borne later reinforced the statement that Portugal and France “have a common ambition in relation to Europe”.
“We want to continue to make progress in economic governance, in the ecological transition and in the social agenda. As President Emmanuel Macron has stated since day one, regarding Russia’s illegal aggression, we stand ready to assist Ukraine in all dimensions: economic, humanitarian and military,” he said.
The French prime minister also argued that the strength of the European Union should come from the unity between its member states vis-à-vis Russia and the problems arising from the military intervention of the Moscow regime in Ukraine.
“Our strength comes from the unity among Europeans. And since February 24, that unity has not been in question. We will continue to take the necessary measures to help the Ukrainian people,” he added.
France pledges commitment to rapid progress of interconnections
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne today promised the leader of the Portuguese executive, António Costa, the political commitment of the French government to move quickly with electricity and gas connections to the Iberian Peninsula.
This view on energy interconnections between France, Spain and Portugal was conveyed by Elisabeth Borne, in Palácio Foz, in Lisbon, during a joint press conference with António Costa, as part of her official visit to Portugal.
“France defends the strengthening of electrical and gas connections with the Iberian Peninsula and Europe. We already had an agreement with our neighbor [Espanha] about electrical connections. We recently reached an agreement on gas interconnections,” said the French Prime Minister.
In addition to dedramatizing the issue of European funding regarding the interconnection projects recently agreed between the three governments, Elisabeth Borne said she left a guarantee to the Portuguese executive.
“I have assured the Prime Minister, António Costa, of our determination to make progress on this matter, as agreed” between President Emmanuel Macron and the heads of government of Portugal and Spain, he said.
“We want a stronger Europe and a Europe that is progressively based on the use of low-carbon energies. We share the two countries’ goal to continue to protect their people in the current economic context in the face of the explosion of energy prices. Better results achieve,” he stated.
In this regard, António Costa stressed that the electrical interconnections between France, Spain and Portugal were never discussed, an issue already agreed upon.
“The political compromise now found was where there was no agreement and there was a blockage due to the route of the gas link. An agreement was found, changing the route crossing the Pyrenees for a solution through a maritime link between Barcelona and Marseille”, he specified.
From a political point of view, António Costa again took the opportunity to respond indirectly to the criticism of the PSD.
The gas connection “is complementary to the electrical interconnections, which were always planned and are being planned. An agreement had to be made where there was disagreement. And where there was no disagreement, the agreement was maintained,” he insisted.
António Costa also added that the new network will have the capacity for “full use via hydrogen”.
“I hope that at the next meeting there will be a more formatted project so that we can get funding through the European Interconnection Financing Mechanism. This is not a project for Portugal, Spain and France, but creating a great green corridor for all of Europe , in particular to support the countries of Central and Northern Europe, which are currently reorienting their energy supply sources, taking into account their past dependence on Russian gas,” he added.
Source: DN
