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The PSD leader and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced today the support of the AD and the Government for his predecessor António Costa for the position of President of the European Council, should he decide to run.
“It is possible that the presidency of the European Council will be assigned to a socialist candidate. If Dr. António Costa runs for that position, the AD and the Government of Portugal will not only support but will do everything to ensure that candidacy is successful,” he said.
Asked if such support depends on the resolution of the judicial process in which the former prime minister saw his name involved, he replied: “If Dr. António Costa is a candidate – and who will decide if he is a candidate is he and his political family – our decision is made.”
It is possible that the presidency of the European Council will go to a socialist candidate. If António Costa runs for that position, the AD and the Government of Portugal will do everything for it to be successful
Luís Montenegro, Prime Minister of Portugal and President of the PSD, which is part of the EPP
Montenegro stressed that the EPP “is the winner of the elections at the level of the 27 Member States of the European Union,” so “it is expected that the main European political families” may agree on the distribution of the most relevant positions in European institutions.
“It is expected that the presidency of the European Commission will be from the most representative political force, the EPP,” he said.
About António Costa, the prime minister also said that he decided to make this announcement of the Portuguese Government’s support on Sunday “not to break a taboo.”
“But he himself, many of my fellow heads of Government of the Member States of the European Union and all my colleagues from the EPP already know this even before I was Prime Minister,” he said.
Asked about Chega’s results – which fell compared to the last general elections – and the far-right victory in France, the prime minister said he viewed “with apprehension” the growth of extremist political forces “in several Member States of the European Union.”
“I can also, on this occasion, congratulate the Portuguese people for continuing to be in Europe a reference of moderation, a reference of the founding values of the EU, even with the difficulty that we often face in reaching consensus combining the interests of 27 Member States,” he said.