Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s trip to Holland was unanimously approved. The President of the Republic considers that the two countries converge “on essential issues.”
This Friday, parliament unanimously approved the trip of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to Holland, on a state visit, between December 9 and 12.
In the letter he addressed to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, dated October 11, the The Head of State requested the consent of Parliament for this trip and also the indication of the deputies who could accompany him on this state visit.
The kings of the Netherlands, William Alexander and Máxima, were in Portugal on a state visit in October 2017, at the invitation of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The President of the Republic visited The Hague in February 2022, for an exhibition by the painter Paula Rego, and on that occasion he was received by the monarch Willem-Alexander at the Royal Palace Huis ten Bosch.
The consent of the Assembly of the Republic to the trip of the Head of State is a formality imposed by the Constitution, which establishes that the President of the Republic cannot be absent from the national territory without authorization from parliament.
This will be the twentieth state visit of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousawho recently postponed a trip to Estonia, also on a state visit, scheduled between October 7 and 10, taking into account budget negotiations.
His previous state visits were to Mozambique, Switzerland and Cuba, in 2016, Cape Verde, Senegal, Croatia, Luxembourg and Mexico, in 2017, Sao Tome and Principe, Greece, Egypt and Spain, in 2018, Angola, China, Costa de Ivory. and Italy, in 2019, India, in 2020, Ireland, in 2022, and Belgium, in 2023.
Seven years ago, when he received the kings of the Netherlands in Portugal, the President of the Republic expressed his hope that this visit – which coincided with a business mission focused on the aeronautical sector and renewable energies – would contribute to giving a “ new impetus” in bilateral relations, especially at the economic level.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that, in political terms, The two countries converge “on essential issues, such as the 2030 agenda, the oceans, climate change, migration, security and defense, membership in the European Union and NATO, multilateralism, cooperation, human rights.”
At a social level, he maintained that there is an “increasing closeness” between the respective peoples, “who today understand each other like never before, thanks to freedom of movement, the Erasmus program, the desire to get to know each other that has always characterized Portuguese and Dutch.”
Addressing the kings of the Netherlands, he added: “And that, in the case of your majesties, it also has a historical foundation, the result of the family ties that you have with Portugal and that come from the beginning of our nationality, our first, our second and fifth kings, all of the first dynasty.”
Source: Observadora
