In Budapest, focusing on European challenges in terms of competitiveness and defense, Montenegro highlighted the context of political changes in the United States, with the election of Donald Trump.
The Portuguese Prime Minister said this Thursday that he hopes that the new North American administration of Donald Trump will be “an opportunity” for the European Union to “talk less and do more” in its autonomy, while Brussels and Washington continue to support Ukraine.
“This prospect of political change in the United States of America must be seen as an opportunity, the opportunity to talk less and do more“Luís Montenegro told Portuguese journalists in Budapest.
European leaders met this Thursday in the Hungarian capital, for the fifth summit of the European Political Community and an informal dinner of the European Council, focused on European challenges in terms of competitiveness and defense, in a context of political changes in the United States , after the Republican Donald Trump. He was elected the 47th president of the United States on Tuesday.
Congratulating Donald Trump, Luís Montenegro highlighted the “unequivocal from the point of view of the result” election of the Republican candidate.
“From a bilateral point of view, we have every interest in continuing deepen our relationship”between Lisbon and Washington, given that, “from an economic, cultural and even historical point of view we have a very deep relationship” due to “the large Portuguese community in the United States of America and that more and more Americans invest in Portugal” . and visit Portugal,” he stated.
At a time when the EU is trying to be more economically competitive and more independent from third countries, the Portuguese head of Government reinforced that “the Europe must have more autonomyfrom the point of view, not only of defense, but also from the point of view of its economic dynamics.”
“We have to strengthen the capacity of Europeans to produce more in all contexts in the primary sector, from the beginning,” he stressed.
Asked about Trump’s position regarding Western support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022, Luís Montenegro said that he hoped that the United States continue to be a “privileged partner” to helpparticularly at the NATO level.
At the moment, fears are arising in kyiv about Washington’s support for the new Trump administration, since, in recent statements, the Republican stated that he could impose peace in Ukraine in “24 hours”, without implementing it, and criticized the size of the help. given to that Eastern European country to resist the Russian invasion, also praising Vladimir Putin.
Both in Europe and in Ukraine there are fears that Donald Trump will force kyiv to negotiate with Moscow under very unfavorable conditions.
In these statements to Portuguese journalists, Luís Montenegro revealed that he had held, on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit, several bilateral meetings in Budapest, such as with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to whom he announced that “Portugal will join the aid effort promoted by the United Kingdomspecifically through a financial donation of around 52 million euros which, in turn, will be consummated with the acquisition of drones. [veículos não tripulados] Portuguese”.
Also in these statements, Luís Montenegro was asked about the internal political crisis in Germany, indicating that he “calmly waits” for the evolution of the situation, without the situation also motivated by German economic stagnation affecting, in his opinion, the economy. Portuguese now “resilient”. and with “good performance”.
Created in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Political Community is a political coordination platform for debates on the future of Europe.
Following this summit, which will take place during the day at the Puskás Arena stadium, the informal European Council begins with a dinner for the EU heads of government and state in the Hungarian Parliament building.
Source: Observadora
