The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on Tuesday begins a three-day official visit to Belgium, where he will meet the royal couple, the Prime Minister, the Portuguese community and the business world.
The aim of the visit is to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of digitisation, innovation and energy, according to the Royal Palace. The state visit comes at the invitation of the Belgian sovereigns, who made an official visit to Portugal in 2018.
On Tuesday, the visit will begin with an official welcome ceremony at the Royal Palace. The Portuguese president will then lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Congress Square. On the political front, Mr. Rebelo de Sousa will meet representatives of the Federal Parliament, as well as Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib.
The Portuguese President will then visit the Grand-Place for a meeting with the Mayor of the City of Brussels, Philippe Close, before holding talks with the President of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium.
The day will close with an official banquet hosted by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde at the Château de Laeken.
On Wednesday, President Rebelo de Sousa will be received in Namur, where he will visit the Pavillon, an exhibition and innovation center dedicated to digital cultures.
At the University of Namur, he will hold informal discussions with Portuguese students of the institution.
The university programme will then continue in the capital with a lecture by the Portuguese President at the Université libre de Bruxelles.
On Thursday, the delegation will head north to the port of Zeebrugge and the city of Bruges.
In Portugal, the president is the head of state, embodying national unity. He does not have as many executive powers as the Prime Minister, but occupies an important position in the political system as guarantor of the Constitution and representative of the State abroad.
