Boris Johnson meeting with Prime Minister of Portugal

The Prime Minister welcomed Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal to Downing Street today ahead of the NATO leaders’ summit later this month.

The Prime Minister thanked the Portuguese leader for his decisive action in support of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s barbaric invasion.

Putin’s actions had fundamentally changed the world, the leaders agreed, and both underlined that NATO allies needed to further build on their strong bonds as like-minded democracies.

The Prime Minister noted that the UK and Portugal shared a common perspective towards NATO and said that it was crucial the alliance remained in lockstep on Ukraine.

Both agreed on the need to increase military spending across the alliance and said more collaboration was needed on defence equipment development to ensure greater integration in NATO.

The pair welcomed the applications by Finland and Sweden to join NATO, and the Prime Minister shared Prime Minister Costa’s view that their presence in the alliance would make it stronger.

Discussing the energy crisis sparked by Russia’s barbaric invasion, both leaders agreed that a drive towards alternative energy sources needed to be intensified.

The leaders noted that the UK and Portugal were already working together on renewable energy, which the Prime Minister said was a great example of the countries’ close collaboration.

Building on the strong ties between the two countries, including through the large diaspora communities and close tourism links, the two leaders also agreed to further deepen bilateral cooperation through a Joint Declaration.