In the first official act of his two-day state visit to Portugal, the French president and his wife, Brigitte Macron, arrived at 12:05 pm at Praça do Império, in Lisbon, a delay of 35 minutes compared to the initially scheduled time (11:30 am).

Received with military honours by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the two heads of state listened, side by side and under heavy rain, to the national anthems of both countries, before reviewing the Guard of Honour.

Macron then walked to the Jerónimos Monastery, accompanied by Brigitte Macron, where he laid a wreath of flowers on the tomb of poet Luís Vaz de Camões.

The two heads of state then went to the Belém Palace where, with Brigitte Macron, they took the traditional official photo in the Sala das Bicas and exchanged a few words of courtesy, before Emmanuel Macron signed the book of honour of the Presidency of the Republic, signed by all the heads of state who visited Portugal.

Marcelo and Macron then met for about 40 minutes, in a meeting in which the President of the Republic decorated his French counterpart with the Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty and the French First Lady, Brigitte Macron, with the Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry.

The two heads of state left the meeting hand in hand, with Emmanuel Macron leaving Belém Palace at 12:54.

Emmanuel Macron began a two-day state visit to Portugal today, the first by a French head of state in the 21st century. The last one had been made by French President Jacques Chirac, between February 4 and 6, 1999, when Jorge Sampaio was President of the Republic.

During this state visit, Emmanuel Macron has stops planned in Lisbon and Porto and will sign a series of bilateral political, economic and cultural agreements, with emphasis on the signing of a friendship and cooperation agreement between the two countries.

After this morning's meeting with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Macron will now meet with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in São Bento, before being received, around 3 pm, at the Assembly of the Republic.

Then, on the sailboat Santa Maria Manuela, docked at Cais do Adamastor, the Portuguese authorities transferred to Macron the powers to hold the third edition of the UN Conference on the Ocean (the second took place in Lisbon in 2022), which will take place between June 9 and 13 this year in Nice (south of France).

Later, a dialogue will take place between Macron and the Mayor of Lisbon and former European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, at the Beato Innovation District, one of the largest innovation and entrepreneurship hubs in Europe, with the participation of Franco-Portuguese technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) players, such as Station F (a French startup hub), following the AI ​​Action Summit in Paris earlier this month.

The day will end with a state dinner hosted by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa for Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte Macron at the Ajuda National Palace.

On Friday, Emmanuel Macron will travel to Porto, where he is expected to sign around a dozen bilateral agreements, including “a friendship agreement, a Franco-Portuguese cooperation agreement” and a letter of intent in the field of armaments.