The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, today wished “every success” to the Prime Minister-designate, Luís Montenegro, saying she looked forward to working together for the “benefit of Europe as a whole”, after a meeting in Brussels.
“I wish you every success as Prime Minister of Portugal. This will benefit Europe as a whole,” said Ursula von der Leyen, in a post on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
In a message shared next to a photo of the two of them during the meeting at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, the leader of the EU executive said: “Great first meeting with Luís Montenegro. Congratulations on your appointment as Prime Minister of Portugal”.
“This is a crucial time for Europe and I look forward to working with you,” said Ursula von der Leyen.
This morning, during a meeting that lasted around 15 minutes, Luís Montenegro assured the President of the European Commission that there was “no reason” to worry about the country’s political stability, stressing “responsibility” towards the European Union.
He also promised speedy implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan to “make up for delays”, expecting a new tranche to the country at the end of this month.
The Prime Minister-designate is in Brussels to attend the EPP summit.
After meeting the outgoing Prime Minister, António Costa, to exchange greetings, Luís Montenegro later met the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also from the EPP.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, appointed Luís Montenegro as Prime Minister today, during an audience that took place after midnight.
The 19th president of the PSD will take over the leadership of the government – nine years after the party left power in 2015 – without having had any executive experience, although he has already said publicly that he refused to hold government posts three times (with Santana Lopes and twice with Passos Coelho) for family reasons.
Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves, 51, was born in Porto but has always lived in Espinho (Aveiro) and is a lawyer by profession.