The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, concludes his three-day state visit to Belgium this Thursday at the invitation of the Belgian Kings Philip and Matilda, who are traveling to the Flanders region.
In the morning, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza will travel to the port of Zeebrugge, now part of the larger port of Antwerp-Bruges following the merger in 2022, and to Bruges, where he will have lunch at the city hall.
In Bruges, the head of state will also take a walk and meet with Portuguese students of the College of Europe.
The last point of this visit is a meeting with representatives of the Portuguese community at the city hall of Saint-Gilles in the Brussels region at the end of the day.
According to the Emigration Observatory, in 2022 there were approximately 50 thousand people with Portuguese citizenship living in Belgium.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrived in Brussels on Monday and that night a shootout in the Belgian capital left two people dead, leading to some changes in the itinerary of his visit.
On Tuesday, the first day of his state visit, there were no more outdoor ceremonies and his meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo was canceled due to the internal security situation.
On this day, the President of the Republic was received at the Royal Palace by Kings Philippe and Mathilde, and then at the regional parliament and the City Hall of Brussels.
His delegation for this trip includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs João Gomes Craviño and deputies from six parties with parliamentary factions: Marta Temido from the PS, Gabriela Fonseca from the PSD, Rui Paulo Sousa from Chega, Joana Cordeiro from the Liberal Initiative, Alfredo Maia from the PCP and Pedro Filipe Soares, parliamentary leader of the Left Bloc.
The visit comes at a time marked by conflict between Israel and Hamas following the Islamist group’s Oct. 7 attack, as bombing and preparations continue for a possible ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Jorge Sampaio was the last Portuguese president to pay a state visit to Belgium, also lasting three days, in October 2005.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited the European institutions in Brussels in March 2017, when he was received by the Kings of Belgium.
In October 2018, at his invitation, the kings of Belgium made a state visit to Portugal.
Then, receiving them at the Belem Palace, the President of the Republic called Portugal and Belgium two countries “close allies” and “friends” in the European Union, the United Nations and NATO, playing a “common role.” “For peace at the global level.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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