The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, conclude this Wednesday the double celebration of 10 June, in which this year’s foreign country was chosen to be Switzerland, home to the second largest expatriate Portuguese community. .
After celebrating on Tuesday the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese communities with Portuguese schoolchildren in Geneva and the Portuguese community of this city, the heads of state and government head to Zurich this Wednesday, but with a “stopover” in Bern. to a meeting with the President of the Swiss Confederation, Viola Amhed.
After this meeting in Bern, which includes a private lunch in which the Swiss Foreign Minister will also take part, Marcelo and Montenegro continue their trip to Zurich, where they will meet first with representatives of the Portuguese community and then with the community. at an event that will end with a classical music concert by young Portuguese musicians, after which they will return to Portugal.
On their first day in Switzerland, their first trip abroad together, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Luis Montenegro were twice faced with complaints and demands from expats, first from a group of Portuguese teachers who denounced the lack of updated information on teachers’ salaries for 15 years in a country where they say they are particularly punished by exchange rate devaluation, and a little later by a small group representing “over-the-top” consular officers who demand a quick solution to your situation.
On the initiative of Marcelo, when he took over as head of state in 2016, he, together with then Prime Minister António Costa and with the participation of both, launched an unprecedented model of double celebration of 10 June, first in Portugal and then in Portuguese communities abroad, Switzerland being the seventh country to host Portugal Day celebrations, after France (2016), Brazil (2017), USA (2018), Cape Verde (2019), UK (2022) and South Africa (2023) .), and in 2020 and 2021. due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the ceremonies were held only in Portugal.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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