João Lourenço visits Portugal amid debate on foreigners' law

Angolan President João Lourenço arrives in Lisbon on Thursday for an official visit to Portugal, a trip that coincides with the debate surrounding the recent approval, in the Portuguese parliament, of new provisions for the law on foreigners.

João Lourenço, who arrives in Lisbon late Thursday afternoon, begins his official visit on Friday at the Belém Palace, where he will be received by the President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

At the end of the meeting, the two Presidents will make a statement to the press, without the right to questions.

João Lourenço then has a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, and will then meet with Portuguese businesspeople at the Palácio das Necessidades.

On this occasion, four bilateral cooperation instruments will be signed: a memorandum of understanding between the two agencies, Portugal and Angola, to promote foreign investment, and a second memorandum of understanding between the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) and IP Engenharia (IPE) – Grupo Infraestructuras de Portugal.

The remaining bilateral instruments are a Cooperation Protocol between the Civil Protection and Fire Service of the Republic of Angola and the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority of Portugal and a Partnership Protocol between the Ministry of the Interior of Angola and Camões – Institute for Cooperation and the Portuguese Language for the Implementation of the Technical-Police and Civil Protection Cooperation Program, for the 2025-2026 biennium.

Press statements are planned at the end of the signing ceremony for the four instruments.

The Angolan head of state will then head to parliament, where he will be received by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar Branco.

Before the official dinner, hosted by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the Ajuda Palace, João Lourenço, current acting president of the African Union, meets with the Group of African Ambassadors.

On Saturday, the second day of the visit, João Lourenço and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will participate in the “Dialogue between Presidents” at the NOVA School of Business and Economics, in Cascais, as part of the EuroaAfrican Forum 2025.

On Sunday, the only item on the Angolan President's agenda is his return to Angola.

João Lourenço's visit coincides with the debate in Portugal about the recent approval by the Assembly of the Republic of the law on foreigners, in which he considered that there is "some discomfort" regarding the new provisions contained in the diploma.

"There is indeed some discomfort. Brazil has had the courage to express this same discomfort. We haven't said anything so far, but we are clearly following the situation's developments very closely," said João Lourenço in an interview with TVI/CNN Portugal, broadcast on Tuesday.

"Therefore, the Portuguese emigrated all over the world and the least we demand is that Portugal not treat the immigrants who chose Portugal as a destination to make their lives worse than they were treated in the countries that welcomed them over the years," he emphasized in the interview.

When asked whether he would address the issue of the approved law in his institutional contacts in Portugal, João Lourenço responded affirmatively.

"I think so. We have—not just Angola, we have immigrants in Portugal, but even in my current role as acting president of the African Union, I have to speak for Africans in general. And there are many Africans of different nationalities who have chosen Portugal," he emphasized.