Lisbon, Feb. 27, 2025 (Lusa) - French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Lisbon on Thursday and Porto on Friday to sign a series of bilateral political, economic and cultural agreements between Portugal and France, as well as for institutional meetings.
In addition to deepening human, economic and cultural relations between France and Portugal, the signing of a friendship and co-operation agreement between the two countries is a highlight.
Today in Lisbon, Macron will pay homage to the Portuguese poet Luís de Camões and then meet with his counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, with whom he will discuss issues related to Europe in terms of security and defence, as well as accelerating competitiveness and investment.
As for the parliament, there won't be a speech by the French head of state as previously planned, but rather a formal sitting and exchange of views with the speaker of parliament, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, and the various heads of Portuguese parliamentary groups.
Then, on the Santa Maria Manuela sailboat, moored at the Adamastor Quay, the Portuguese authorities will transfer to Macron the powers to hold the third edition of the UN Ocean Conference (the second took place in Lisbon in 2022), which will take place between 9 and 13 June this year in Nice (southern France).
Later, there will be a dialogue between Macron and the mayor of Lisbon and former European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, in the Beato Innovation District, one of Europe's largest innovation and entrepreneurship centres, with the participation of Franco-Portuguese technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) players, such as Station F (a French start-up centre), following the Action Summit on AI in Paris at the beginning of the month.
On the second day, when the French head of state travels to Porto to meet the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, around a dozen bilateral agreements are due to be signed, including a friendship agreement, a Franco-Portuguese cooperation agreement and a letter of intent in the field of armaments.
Agreements will also be signed on cultural, scientific and technical cooperation, police, film co-production, in particular with the Centre National de la Cinématographie, and an action plan for higher education, science and innovation.
Macron is also taking part in a Franco-Portuguese business forum in Porto with Marcelo and Montenegro, focusing on economic and investment cooperation from France to Portugal, and ties between the two countries, as well as issues relating to innovation, defence and the preservation of sovereignty in Europe.
Macron's visit, at the invitation of the Portuguese president, is the first state visit by a French president to Portugal in 26 years. The last time was in 1999 with Jacques Chirac. However, Macron had already been invited to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, where he ended up saying a word to the Portuguese, with whom France shares a historic relationship.
In June 2022, Macron was in Portugal to take part in the United Nations (UN) Oceans Conference in Lisbon, while Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was last in France in June last year to attend the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
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