Maputo, June 11, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal's Minister for State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, has said in Maputo that Portuguese nationals abroad have been treated “on the fringes of the public system”, acknowledging that “concrete and urgent” change is needed.
“A year ago, I took up my post as deputy minister and Minister for State Reform, and from day one I have held a conviction that is not technical, but political: the Portuguese State must reach out to all Portuguese citizens, regardless of where they live. It seems obvious, but this has not been the reality,” said Gonçalo Matias.
The minister, who took part in the official Portugal Day ceremonies in Maputo on Wednesday, pointed out that, “for years, Portuguese citizens abroad have been treated as if they were on the margins of the system” and “as if citizenship came with a geographical discount”.
"As if those who live far away deserved less attention, slower processes, services that are harder to access and, ultimately, the persistent feeling that the State reached everyone except them. This is despite, of course, the remarkable and often thankless efforts of our consular services. That is unacceptable, and that is what we have and are changing," he said.
The minister added that the reform of the State which he said the government was building “is not an exercise in public management” but rather “a paradigm shift” in the way the relationship between the State and the citizen is conceived.
"A state that starts from people’s needs rather than its own administrative conveniences. A state that does not require citizens to prove what they have already proven, that does not force them to travel when travel makes no sense. One that uses technology, artificial intelligence and the interoperability of systems not to replace human judgement, but to serve people better," he emphasised.
Matias assured that, for Portuguese communities abroad, this “transformation has a concrete and urgent dimension”: “We want a Portuguese citizen in Maputo to access state services just as easily as someone in Porto or Lisbon. We want geographical distance to cease to be an administrative distance.”
For the minister, the reform must enable the state to reach wherever “Portuguese people are”.
“Not just through the diplomatic and consular network, which is irreplaceable, but digitally, including an integrated and accessible approach. We know there is a long way to go; we are not pretending it is done, but we know where we are going and we will not stop,” he assured.
On Monday, the Portuguese minister took part in the opening of the second Mozambique-European Union Business Forum (Global Gateway), representing the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Síkela.
On Wednesday he was received by the Mozambican president, Daniel Chapo, a meeting which, according to information from the presidency office, “provided an opportunity to discuss the current state of the partnership between the two countries, with particular attention paid to economic, political and social cooperation, as well as the prospects for deepening the historical ties that unite Maputo, Lisbon and Brussels”.
At the end of the meeting, Gonçalo Matias highlighted the constructive nature of the talks and the alignment of priorities between the parties, emphasising the progress made in the relationship between Mozambique and its European partners.
At the official ceremony marking Portugal Day, the minister emphasised that “Europe needs Africa” and “African partners who trust European institutions and who see partnership with Europe as a real opportunity”.
“Not an unequal relationship of dependency. Portugal wants to be, and is, the bridge that makes this relationship more balanced, more effective and fairer,” he concluded.
PVJ/AYLS // AYLS
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