Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro reaffirmed his government’s goal of reinforcing the country’s consular network and making Portuguese the official language of the United Nations.
The Council of Portuguese Communities is a well-established institution, the second oldest of its kind in Europe, and it is a consultative body that no government can do without – and this one certainly won’t.
Montenegro hosted a reception in São Bento for Portuguese community counsellors, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel, Secretary of State José Cesário and former Social Democratic Secretary of State Manuela Aguiar.
The government intended to “make the work of the consular network more dynamic and effective by the end of the parliamentary term,” Montenegro added.
We’re trying to strengthen and improve it for the coming years. It is an indispensable factor in supporting Portuguese communities and in connecting the Portuguese public administration with individuals, associations, and companies.
He also intends to promote the initiative to make Portuguese the official language of the UN.
I took advantage of my recent visit to the United Nations General Assembly [in New York], a fortnight ago, to interact with the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, and take advantage of the willingness he had already expressed so that we could invest in making Portuguese an official language of the United Nations. It will be a step that, if we manage to realise it, will be remarkable.
The outgoing president of the Council of Portuguese Communities, Flávio Martins, stated that his organisation united businessmen, workers and students from different countries to which Portuguese were emigrating.
We have confidence in the Portuguese government. We believe it will have the sensitivity and proximity to the Portuguese communities we need. We are as Portuguese as the Portuguese who live in Portugal. We defend Portugal abroad.
