The State Council will meet this Monday afternoon to review the situation in Ukraine following the peace conference held in Switzerland in June and the NATO summit last week in Washington.
This will be the 35th meeting of the presidential advisory body during the term of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the first with the participation of the new state councilors elected by the Assembly of the Republic to this legislative body, including Carlos Moedas, appointed by the PSD, Pedro Nuno Santos of the PS and André Ventura of Chega.
According to a note published on June 20, the head of state convened the meeting “to analyze the situation in Ukraine in the context of the Peace Summit in Switzerland, the NATO summit in Washington and the meeting of the European Political Community in the United Kingdom.”
The President of the Republic took part in a conference on peace issues in Ukraine, which was held in Switzerland in mid-June.
The NATO summit in Washington, dedicated to supporting Ukraine, took place from Tuesday to Thursday with the participation of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
Upon arrival at the summit, the Portuguese prime minister told reporters that Portugal had formally presented a plan to increase defense investment from the current roughly four billion euros to six billion euros in 2029, in order to reach the 2% gross domestic product target (GDP) agreed with NATO.
As for support for Ukraine, according to Luis Montenegro, it will amount to more than 220 million euros this year and the same amount in 2025.
The fourth meeting of the European Political Community will take place on 18 July in the UK.
A week before this meeting of the Council of State, the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces met with the Supreme Council of National Defence, which carried out a “review of the situation regarding the support that Portugal provides to Ukraine”.
According to an information note published by the President of the Republic, the Supreme Council of National Defense also discussed at the internal level the Regulation on former combatants and the Regulation on members of the Armed Forces, defending “the importance of the attractiveness, present and future valorization of the military state, as well as the recognition of its contribution to the past.”
The last meeting of the Council of State took place on 27 March, dedicated to the political situation in Madeira, with the participation of the members of the Council of State elected by Parliament in the previous legislature.
On 19 July, the Assembly of the Republic elected the corresponding five members of the State Council of the current legislative body from the joint list of the SDP, PS and Čegi, depending on their parliamentary representation.
The members of the Council of State nominated by the PSD, Francisco Pinto Balsemão and Carlos Moedas, nominated by the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos and Carlos César, and Chega André Ventura were elected.
Pinto Balsemão and Carlos César were already members of the Council of State of the previous legislative body elected by Parliament. Manuel Alegre, Sampaio da Novoa and Miguel Cadille are no longer councillors.
The members of this political consultative body, chaired by the head of state, are essentially persons holding the positions of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman, the Chairmen of regional governments and former Presidents of the Republic.
According to the provisions of the Constitution, it also includes five citizens appointed by the Head of State and five elected by the Assembly of the Republic.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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