The meeting took place at the invitation of António Costa at his residence in Lisbon. The Belarusian leader thanked the Prime Minister for his help in organizing the meeting between Belarusian entrepreneurs and the Secretary of State of Portugal, Bernardo Ivo Cruz. The meeting became possible thanks to the agreement between Prime Minister Costa and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya reached during the May Summit of the Council of Europe.
The politicians discussed the legalization of stay for Belarusians in Portugal, including the recognition of expired passports and the issuance of alien passports. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya also told the Prime Minister about the new Belarusian passport project and called on Portugal to support the initiative at both national and European levels.
Mr. Costa and Ms. Tsikhanouskaya discussed the situation with Belarusian political prisoners and partisan activities within the country. The Prime Minister shared that he feels connected to the situation in Belarus as the Portuguese remember their own experience of fighting the dictatorship in their country 50 years ago. Hence, the parties discussed a Belarusian-Portuguese conference on the transitional period, where the Portuguese side could share their experience of transitioning from dictatorship to democracy.
They also discussed Belarusians’ European choice. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on Portugal to support the European aspirations of Belarusians on international platforms.
At the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister pledged Portugal’s continued support for Belarusians and their European choice.
