Minister Blanar Meets Portuguese Counterpart Rangel in Portugal

Lisbon, March 6 (TASR) - Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar met his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel and vice-chair of the Portuguese Parliament Marcos Perestrelo during his visit to Portugal on Wednesday, where they discussed strengthening economic cooperation and partnerships within the EU and NATO, TASR has learnt from the ministry's communications department. "We discussed topics related to our bilateral relations and spoke about specific economic and investment activities in which we can see great potential," explained Blanar. The meeting also focused on cooperation at the EU level and its current main topics, especially Europe's defence capabilities. "We discussed a proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently presented an €800-billion package to support the defence industry. We're ready to discuss this topic openly," said Blanar. Blanar thanked Rangel for the deployment of Portuguese soldiers serving in the multinational brigade on NATO's eastern flank in Slovakia. "Currently, there are 26 soldiers, and we have information that the contingent will be expanded to 150 troops. This is a positive signal of cooperation and joint defence within the Alliance," said the minister. In relation to the conflict in Ukraine, the partners agreed that all stakeholders should be included in peace negotiations. The ministers welcomed the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and expressed a shared view on the need to continue humanitarian support for Palestinians living in the enclave. They also agreed on the need for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Blanar also met Vice-chair of the Portuguese Parliament Marcos Perestrelo. They agreed to establish more active cooperation at the level of individual parliamentary committees. lin/df