Speaking to reporters in Lagos, in the Faro district, where he arrived today for the June 10 celebrations, which were originally scheduled to continue in Macau but have since been canceled, the President explained, “It was planned for Macau. But we couldn’t go to Macau because we need to be on the 12th [of June] celebrating our entry into Europe. How could we go to Macau? It was impossible.”
When asked if he would still visit Macau during his second and final presidential term, which ends on March 9 next year, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied, “No. The Prime Minister will go, if he can, but later, in September.”
“While I go to the United Nations, he will go to Macau, to China. Because he has a visit to China that also includes going to Macau. We’ll see if he can schedule it while I’m in New York, and he takes the opportunity to go to Macau and China,” he added.
After the cancellation of the celebrations for Portugal Day in Macau following the fall of the PSD/CDS-PP government in March and the call for early legislative elections on May 18, there were no plans for any celebrations abroad.
However, the President and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro ended up celebrating June 10 in Germany on Saturday, alongside the Portuguese community in Stuttgart, before watching Portugal’s victory in the Nations League final on Sunday night in Munich.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made a state visit to the People’s Republic of China from April to May 2019, starting in Beijing, where he was received by President Xi Jinping, passing through Shanghai, and concluding in the Special Administrative Region of Macau.
Platform with Lusa
