Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, is in favour of Ukrainian accession to the European Union
“Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has given a clear signal that he is in favour of EU enlargement”, FM Paulo Rangel said.
“This is something that I think needed to be clarified because Portugal had some hesitations, especially when Ukraine was being given candidate status last year”.
The minister added that the prior government, under ex-prime minister António Costa, was “totally on Ukraine’s side”, but on the issue of enlargement “there was at least some hesitation there, which always created a margin of ambiguity”.
“Now there is no ambiguity”, he concluded.
Costa repeatedly asserted that EU enlargement should be accompanied by a reform of the bloc’s structures, including its budget, in order to avoid imbalances, for example, in the distribution of European funds, the representation of countries in the European Parliament, and in the decision-making rules between member states.
Enlargement “of course implies financial and treaty reform”, Rangel acknowledged in response.
“That was the position of the previous government and it remains the same”, he added, drawing a distinction with the current government, which has shown a “firm commitment to support enlargement when it has to take place”.
