On International Youth Day, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro reaffirmed his commitment to giving young people the future they deserve. In a post on social media platform X, he promised to provide youth with “tools for good qualifications, good jobs, and good opportunities,” allowing them to “be who they want to be in a safe, sustainable, and dynamic country.”
In an Instagram video, Montenegro and the Minister of Youth and Modernization, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, marked the day. The Prime Minister stated, “Today is International Youth Day. In Portugal, we are creating many conditions to offer more opportunities to young Portuguese people.” He considers the government’s focus on young Portuguese as “an investment in Portugal’s future.”
Minister Balseiro Lopes highlighted some of the main measures the current government has dedicated to youth:
1. No stamp duty, fees, or property transfer tax for first-time home buyers up to 35 years old.
2. Provision of over 700 affordable beds for higher education students, with plans to increase this number from September.
3. Over 100,000 psychology consultations and 50,000 nutrition consultations to address mental health concerns.
4. No penalization in access to scholarships for working youth earning up to 14 times the national minimum wage.
The Minister promised that these are just the initial decisions and more will follow.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also marked International Youth Day by calling on “everyone to make possible a country at the service of young people and young people at the service of the country.”