“Today I have the privilege of being able to share our decision to open new citizen spaces in 10 consulates, which will be implemented very soon,” he announced.

These spaces, he explained, will be opened at Portuguese consulates in Berlin, Luxembourg, Geneva, Zurich, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Luanda, Boston, Toronto and Rio de Janeiro.

“From these spaces, Portuguese citizens - and other citizens who need to contact the Portuguese public administration will have an open door to interact more quickly with our services,” he said.

Just over a month before the early legislative elections on 18 May, Montenegro left a “message” for those who criticise the Government’s announcements.

“There are many people who get upset when we say these things and then come and say that all of this was already planned, none of this is new. Well, I know, there are many things that were planned but were not done and we are focused on doing them,” he said.

In his speech, the Prime Minister also took the opportunity to highlight, as he has done on several occasions, the country's good economic and financial situation.

“We have economic stability. We are one of the countries in Europe that, despite the current difficulties, has the best economic performance. We have financial stability, like few others in Europe: we are one of the four countries with public accounts in surplus, that is, we have a surplus in our fiscal balance that is constant and will continue in the coming years,” he assured.

For these reasons, he argued, Portugal is in a position to be, “despite international uncertainties and tensions, a safe haven for investment and belief”.

At the ceremony, which was attended by the Deputy Minister and Minister of Territorial Cohesion, Castro Almeida, Minister of Education Fernando Alexandre, and Minister of Youth and Modernisation, Margarida Balseiro Lopes, the Prime Minister praised the government's use of funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in innovation and digitalisation.