The president of the European Commission guarantees that “the European Union is in solidarity with Portugal” in the face of the crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic, as shown by the fact that the country is one of the important beneficiaries of the Recovery Fund.

In an interview with the Lusa agency on the eve of her first official visit to Portugal as president of the Community Executive, Ursula von der Leyen states that “Portuguese citizens have fought in a very courageous and disciplined manner against the virus and have even been more successful than others”, and can count on the support of the EU, which will also help to “boost” the recovery of the national economy.

“The European Union will ensure that the Portuguese people, European citizens and people around the world have access to a future vaccine. And the EU will also be on the side of the Portuguese in recovering from the economic crisis”, guarantees the President of the Commission.

Maintaining that NextGenerationEU, the recovery fund proposed by its Executive and agreed by European leaders at a long summit in July, gives Europe “the opportunity not only to repair the damage and recover from the current situation, but to shape a better way of life”, Von der Leyen points out that“ Portugal will be an important beneficiary ”.

According to the commitment reached in July, Portugal will receive 15.3 billion euros in grants (non-repayable), including 13.2 billion euros, by 2023, through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, the main instrument of the Recovery Fund.