Prime Minister hopes for “greatest possible consensus” on Defense

The Prime Minister today highlighted the PS's willingness to negotiate a proposed strategic agreement for Defense and said he hopes for "the greatest possible consensus," indicating that he will speak again with the Socialists and Chega.

"Our intention was and always is to have the greatest possible consensus, and I believe that it will not be difficult, given the known positions of the main Portuguese political parties, so that we can combine our security and defense policy with the strategic interest that this new era can also bring to the dynamism of our economy," he stated.

Luís Montenegro was speaking to journalists at the end of the inauguration ceremony of the new Sintra Hospital, after being asked about the challenge he had been given by the PS secretary-general to negotiate a proposal for a “Strategic Agreement for a National Development and Defense Capacity Building Plan.”

The hearing requested by José Luís Carneiro “will be scheduled, naturally,” he stated, adding that the Government will “speak with all political parties, but in particular with the two main opposition parties,” namely PS and Chega.

Luís Montenegro declined to "discuss methodologies" at this time and emphasized that "what really matters is that Portugal assumes its commitments and is able to fulfill them, something that unfortunately has not happened in the last decade."

"We are committed to doing so. We made this commitment within the international context and within our Atlantic alliance, and obviously, it is with a positive spirit that we view the willingness of the main opposition parties to cooperate with the Government, whether directly with the Government or in the parliamentary context, especially when there are initiatives that pass through Parliament," he stated.