Santos Silva and his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, met in Lisbon to discuss bilateral and European issues and left the meeting reinforcing the importance of cooperation between the two countries, who are part of the next presidency trio of the European Union together with Slovenia.

Santos Silva said the meeting also served as the first step in the preparatory work for the presidency of Germany (second half of 2020), Portugal (first half of 2021) and Slovenia (second half of 2021).

"The three countries are working so that, as in the past, the presidency trio stands out for its efficiency and for the continuity of the programmes," Santos Silva added.

Maas highlighted the "central role" of Europe in Portuguese-German relations and called for a "strong and united Europe," saying it was necessary to see "better articulation among partners."