The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, speaks today about the challenges of the European Union (EU) in a solemn session at the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, after a meeting with the institution’s president, Roberta Metsola.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is scheduled to arrive at the European Parliament in Strasbourg at 10:45 a.m. (local time, minus one in Lisbon), where he will sign the guest book and meet with Roberta Metsola, after which he will speak in the chamber.
Then, the Portuguese head of state will proceed to the headquarters of the Council of Europe, where he will meet with the secretary general of that institution, Marija Pejčinović Burić, having lunch with Portuguese officials of the European Parliament.
On Tuesday, upon his arrival in Strasbourg, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that in his speech on Wednesday in the European Chamber he would analyze the “great challenges” of the EU, addressing “all sovereign bodies” of Portugal, including the government.
The visit to Strasbourg comes at a time of disagreement between the head of state and the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, over whether the minister of infrastructure, João Galamba, should remain in the government.
Last Thursday, in a communication to the country, the President of the Republic promised that he will be “even more attentive and more intervening on a daily basis” to prevent conflict factors that deteriorate the institutions and “avoid resorting to exceptional powers.
The head of state qualified his disagreement with the prime minister’s decision to keep João Galamba as minister of infrastructure as a “fundamental disagreement” and considered that this decision by António Costa has costs “on the credibility, on the reliability, on the authority of the minister, of the government, and of the state.
