Marcelo invites President of São Tomé to visit Portugal and announces visit by Costa | Africa
The Portuguese head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, invited the new Sao Tome president, Carlos Vila Nova, to visit Portugal and announced that the prime minister, António Costa, should visit Sao Tome and Principe in the coming months.
This Saturday, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa attended the inauguration of Carlos Vila Nova as President of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, at the National Assembly, in São Tomé, and did not make a social declaration during the final ceremony.
“I had the opportunity to invite the President to visit Portugal between the end of this year and the first half of next year, to continue a relationship that was very close with his predecessor, with President Evaristo Carvalho”, declare the Portuguese President.
“And I think the Prime Minister will also have the opportunity to come in the coming months. Which means that this strengthening will continue in the future with the President of the Republic and with the São Toméan authorities”, he added.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “this is very important”, because Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe have “much, much to build, not only within the framework of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries [CPLP] but within the framework of relations between the two peoples”.
António Costa’s visit to São Tomé and Príncipe should take place “towards the end of the year”, he added.
The head of state expressed on the part of Portugal “a concern to continue a collaboration that has been very intense in the fight against the pandemic [de covid-19], which here still knows a strong fourth wave”.
“But also in the economic and social consequences that have to do with the crisis, in the area of health, in the area of education, in a number of areas, and then in that fundamental area, which is military cooperation in an area as sensitive as that of the Gulf of Guinea”, he added.
Today, before returning to Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will visit the Portuguese Navy’s patrol ship Zaire, which since January 2018 has been on a mission in São Tomé and Príncipe, under a bilateral agreement.
According to the Portuguese President, “there are, in fact, very important prospects for the future” in various areas of bilateral relations. “And this is represented by my presence here,” he said.
Carlos Vila Nova, 62, was elected with the support of the Independent Democratic Action (ADI) party, in the second round of presidential updates, on September 5, with 57.54% of the votes, defeating Guilherme Posser da Costa, supported by current parliamentary majority MLSTP-PSD / PCD / MDFM / UDD, which supports the executive headed by Jorge Bom Jesus.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considers that São Tomé and Príncipe has experienced a “democratic, peaceful transition, with great elevation” and praised the new President for the way he addressed the people of São Tomé.
“This strength in this new start is essential for the future of the brother people of São Tomé and Príncipe, but it is essential for the future of all of us. We are united. When we say that we are brothers, we are really brothers, and that it goes well for a brother of ours, it goes well for us”, he affirmed.