Marcelo speaks today at an open debate at the UN Security Council

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will speak today at an open debate of the UN Security Council, in New York, on artificial intelligence, peace and international security.

The head of state arrived in the United States of America on Saturday to participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UN), where he spoke on Tuesday, and will travel back to Portugal tonight.

Bilateral meetings will continue today to promote Portugal's candidacy for one of the non-permanent member seats on the UN Security Council for the 2027-2028 biennium, to be elected in 2026. Germany and Austria have also submitted candidacy for this position.

His agenda includes meetings with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Namibia, Tonga, Kyrgyzstan, the vice-president of Gambia and the prince of Monaco.

In the previous days, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa held bilateral meetings with the King of Jordan, the presidents of Tajikistan, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Kiribati, Micronesia, Iraq, the Crown Prince of Kuwait and the Vice President of Tanzania, among others.

The President of the Republic, who is less than six months away from the end of his second term, participated for the sixth and final time representing Portugal in the UN General Assembly.

In his speeches, he defended multilateralism and expressed support for the priorities of António Guterres as secretary-general of this organization, founded in 1945 and which Portugal joined in 1955.

Before this year's general debate among world leaders, several countries, including Portugal, announced their recognition of the State of Palestine, which was already the majority among the 193 UN member states.

Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel, who traveled to New York for this week of high-level events, formally declared recognition of the State of Palestine on Sunday at the Permanent Mission of Portugal to the UN, a decision for which Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his "full support."

Following this statement, the President of the Republic addressed a High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, on Monday.