Huelva, Spain, March 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Prime Minister Luís Montenegro argued that Portugal and Spain must be "a cohesive bloc", warning the other partners in the European Council that "there can be no competitive Europe without territorial cohesion and social cohesion".
Luís Montenegro was speaking at the joint press conference of the 36th Luso-Spanish Summit, alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which took place this morning in Huelva (Spain) and focused on climate security.
In his opening statement, the Portuguese prime minister once again criticised the postponement of the process of interconnecting the Iberian Peninsula's electricity grids with central Europe, which he described as "unsustainable".
"If we are unable to fulfil the commitments we have made to each other in Europe, we are simultaneously penalising our capacity for growth and sending a signal to our competitors that we are unable to reach agreement within our own perimeter," he said.
In another message to the European Union's partners, Montenegro argued that Portugal and Spain must increasingly present themselves as "a cohesive bloc, a bloc that is competitive because it is cohesive".
"And this is a message we are sending from here to our colleagues who sit at the European Council table and to the European institutions. There can be no competitive Europe without territorial cohesion and social cohesion," he said, warning that the European Union "must not forget this" when developing the next multiannual financial framework for the European Union.
After recalling that Portugal and Spain have simultaneous processes of democratisation and accession to the European Union, Pedro Sánchez argued that the two countries are "a leading example of European commitment" and stressed that they have common challenges and must "work together", referring, like Montenegro, among other issues, to the negotiations on the next multiannual Community budget.
Regarding the conclusions of the 36th summit, Montenegro stressed that the two countries have "a shared agenda, a common ambition and a path for the future".
"It was and is absolutely imperative to cooperate in order to tackle phenomena such as forest fires or storms with heavy rainfall and strong winds, as we have recently experienced," he said.
The Portuguese prime minister stressed that both he and Pedro Sánchez share a common concern about "the need to effectively tackle climate change and its effects".
"None of us in Portugal and Spain, in our respective governments, can deny these impacts and these needs," he assured.
Montenegro stressed that "for the Portuguese Government, climate security is neither left-wing nor right-wing, neither progressive nor conservative".
"For us, it is an imposition of our responsibility to our citizens today and to those who will be here after us, and it is also an imposition of the competitiveness of the European economy, of strategic autonomy, particularly from an energy point of view, and of the reconciliation that must be made between environmental values and economic values," he said.
Regarding the two countries' common agenda, Montenegro highlighted the 12 bilateral instruments signed today - ten agreements and two action plans.
One of the most important agreements signed today provides for Portugal and Spain to develop warning systems for the population focused on cross-border areas for risk scenarios such as floods or dam failures.
Another agreement provides for the Portuguese and Spanish governments to create the Luso-Spanish Strategic Forum for Greater Competitiveness, with two ministerial meetings per year, the first session to be held in the first half of 2026.
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