Former Portuguese PM is choice of European leaders negotiating the top jobs at the EU, approval of leaders expected on June 27
PANAJI
Portugal’s former Prime Minister Antonio Costa has been nominated for the post of President of the European Council, reports in Portugal revealed late on Tuesday night.
Speculation that Costa, who is of Goan origin, would be considered for the position had been reported in The Goan in June last year, and earlier this month, when it had again surfaced.
RTP, Portugal’s official radio and television, reported on Tuesday that the European Leaders negotiating the top jobs at the European Union, had selected Costa for the post of European Council President, while Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen will continue as the European Commission President and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas will head the foreign policy service.
The names for the three top positions will now be submitted for approval at the meeting of the EU heads of state and government scheduled in Brussels on Thursday.
Most Portuguese portals said that Costa had received the green light for the position.
The newspaper Publico quoted Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa saying, “It’s a joy, it is very good for Europe and Portugal.”
Expresso, another Portuguese newspaper quoted Costa’s party colleague, Pedro Nuno Santos who is the secretary general of the Socialist Party saying, “António Costa is the politician best prepared to assume the charge of the presidency of the European Council and to bestow upon it the necessary political weight. This is good news for Europe, for Portugal and for the socialists.”
Costa, the son of Goan writer Orlando da Costa, was PM of Portugal from 2015 to April 1, 2024. He had briefly visited Goa in January 2017, during an official visit to India. He had been warmly received in the State and had even dropped in at his ancestral house in Margao.
