The president of Angola, João Lourenço, showed himself this Thursday to be available to visit Portugal in 2024, on the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, and to jointly celebrate the 50th anniversary of his country’s independence, the following year.
“I am certainly available, everything depends on the will of the Portuguese authorities. If I am invited, I will gladly go”, said the Angolan President, in a joint interview with Lusa and Expresso, on the eve of receiving, in Luanda, the first Portuguese minister, António Costa.
João Lourenço also made himself available to invite the Portuguese Head of State to visit Luanda for a joint celebration of the 50 years of Angola’s independence, which takes place on 11 November 2025.
“I hadn’t thought about it yet, because I think it’s serious, there are still two years to go, but on the 50th anniversary I will be very happy to invite the Portuguese head of state”, he said.
The Angolan president, João Lourenço, praises the state of relations with Portugal on the eve of receiving the Portuguese prime minister and calls for greater investment by Portuguese companies to diversify his country’s economy.
Saying that he expected António Costa’s visit, between June 5th and 6th, “the strengthening of friendly relations and economic cooperation between the two countries”, João Lourenço sees the increase in a credit line for investment as an incentive for companies to travel , which he included in the aspects of “economic mobility”.
One of the agreements that will be signed in Luanda during António Costa’s visit is precisely the increase in the financing line from 1.5 billion euros to 2 billion euros, negotiated in early April during a visit by the Portuguese Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina. .
Isabel dos Santos is not a “political rival”
João Lourenço rejected accusations of political persecution of the businesswoman and eldest daughter of former president José Eduardo dos Santos and commented on the process relating to Manuel Vicente, alluding to the case of José Sócrates.
The Angolan president considers that Isabel dos Santos is “just one” among several citizens facing justice and is not her rival, rejecting accusations of political persecution.
“I don’t see her as my political rival. Political persecution? An opponent is pursued and the opponents of the MPLA are known”, says the head of the Angolan executive.
The head of the Angolan executive refutes allegations of political persecution, as the businesswoman has complained, stressing that there are many citizens who are grappling with justice and Isabel’s case “is just one more”.
As for the process relating to the former vice-president of Angola, Manuel Vicente, João Lourenço stresses that it was “a case of sovereignty” and that it was not Angola that caused what became known as “annoying” between the two countries.
“It was the Portuguese judicial authorities who decided to take the courts to the bar [portugueses] a ruler of that caliber. I am not imagining Angola having the audacity, for example, to take José Sócrates to court if, eventually, he had committed some crime in Angola. Fortunately, the outcome was good (…) if it had taken longer, it might have left wounds, but I must assure you that it didn’t leave any”, he comments.
Source: Renascença – Noticias by rr.sapo.pt.
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