Albuquerque believes that a European Council chaired by Costa will be positive for the country

The President of the regional government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque (PSD), said on Tuesday that it is positive for the country that former Prime Minister António Costa holds the presidency of the European Council, stressing that he has the conditions to do a “good job.” .

“I think it’s good […] The candidacy of António Costa, there were those who discussed it, but I have no doubt that it is positive for Portugal,” said Miguel Albuquerque after being asked by journalists about the preliminary agreement on the appointment of the former prime minister to the European Council.

The President of the Madeira Executive was speaking as part of a visit to the requalification works of the regional road 204 in the municipality of Santa Cruz, which extends almost eight kilometers and represents an investment of “almost 13 million euros” until 2025.

Miguel Albuquerque emphasized that “it is one thing to criticize the government, it is another thing to support a compatriot who occupies a prominent place in Europe and, above all, in such an important body as the European Council.”

“The political differences I had with António Costa do not prevent me from supporting him and I think he has the conditions to do his job well,” he stressed.

The six heads of government and state of the European Union (EU), who are negotiating top positions in the European Council, including the appointment of Antonio Costa, reached a preliminary agreement today, European sources told Lusa.

After the failure of the first attempt to reach an agreement at an informal dinner of EU leaders on June 17, these negotiators (center-right, socialists and liberals) debated Europe’s top positions in the next institutional cycle. named after the leadership of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen in her second term on the European Commission and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas as head of public diplomacy.

In addition to the Prime Minister of Portugal, Luis Montenegro, who has already announced that he will support the candidacy of António Costa, there are 11 more heads of government and state from the European People’s Party (PPP) from countries such as Greece, Croatia, Latvia. , Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Romania, Finland, Cyprus, Poland and Luxembourg, which supported the former Portuguese ruler.

It is the European Council that proposes a candidate for the presidency of the European Commission, an institution headed by Ursula von der Leyen since 2019, in a final approval process that is then left to the European Parliament, which votes with an absolute majority. (half of the 720 MEPs are different).