Marcelo-Costa Final Meeting: Portugal's Farewell

Portugal's outgoing President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will complete his final official European tour today, meeting with three EU leaders in Brussels—including a symbolic farewell lunch with António Costa, now President of the European Council. The visit, scheduled just 10 days before Marcelo's second and final term ends on March 9, underscores the closing chapter of an extraordinary political partnership that reshaped Portugal's relationship with European institutions.

Why This Matters

• Last high-level meeting between the two politicians who dominated Portugal's national stage from 2016 to 2023, marking the end of the second-longest cohabitation in democratic history.

• Their partnership spanned Marcelo's entire presidency and Costa's tenure as Prime Minister, which ended in November 2023 following Costa's resignation as PM—after which he assumed the European Council presidency.

• Marcelo will also address Portuguese EU staff and diplomats in Brussels, reinforcing Portugal's presence in European institutions at a time of geopolitical uncertainty.

• His successor, António José Seguro, takes office March 9, bringing a different political style but a similarly pro-European stance.

• The visit includes meetings with Roberta Metsola (European Parliament), Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission), and António Costa (European Council)—a rare triple institutional audience.

A Decade of Political Partnership Draws to a Close

The centerpiece of today's schedule is the 12:00 PM (Lisbon time) encounter at the European Council headquarters, where Marcelo and Costa will tour the building, deliver joint statements to journalists, and share a private lunch. For those who followed Portugal's political theater over the past eight years, the symbolism is unmistakable: two leaders from opposing parties—Social Democrat (PSD) and Socialist (PS)—who managed to coexist through pandemic, economic recovery, and coalition upheaval, now bidding farewell on the European stage.

Their 2016–2023 cohabitation was the second-longest in Portugal's democratic history, trailing only the nine-year stretch between President Mário Soares and Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva (1986–1995). But unlike that earlier pairing—which devolved into public feuds, presidential vetoes, and accusations of institutional blockage—the Marcelo-Costa era earned praise for its "fluidity and institutional solidarity."

António Costa, during his final visit to Belém Palace as Prime Minister in December 2023, described their working relationship as "one of the best periods of coexistence between Government and Presidency" in democratic memory. "I doubt there have been so many periods of such good institutional harmony," he said at the time, acknowledging that political differences remained but were managed with mutual respect. This visit came roughly a month after Costa's resignation as Prime Minister in November 2023, following a corruption investigation that led to his departure from Lisbon's political stage.

Marcelo returned the sentiment with characteristic flair, recalling in December 2024 how he often told Costa: "One day you'll recognize we were happy and didn't know it." The line, delivered with the President's signature nostalgia, reflected both men's awareness that their era of relative institutional calm was an exception, not the rule.

The Brussels Itinerary

Marcelo's day begins at 9:55 AM (Lisbon time) with a formal reception at the European Parliament, hosted by President Roberta Metsola. The Maltese politician, a center-right ally, has worked closely with Portugal on migration and rule-of-law dossiers. An hour later, at 11:00 AM, Marcelo shifts to the European Commission building for a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, where discussions are expected to touch on post-disaster reconstruction funding for Portugal, following severe weather events in recent weeks.

After the Costa lunch, Marcelo will host a 2:30 PM (Lisbon time) reception at Portugal's Permanent Representation to the EU, bringing together Portuguese staff working across EU institutions and diplomatic mission representatives. The event will feature speeches from Secretary of State for European Affairs Inês Domingos and Permanent Representative Pedro Costa Pereira, alongside the President's own farewell address.

This is not Marcelo's first Brussels farewell tour. He visited EU institutions in March 2017, shortly after taking office, and again in October 2023 during a state visit to Belgium, where he was received by King Philippe and Queen Mathilde. That 2023 trip came after the Belgian royals had visited Portugal in 2018, cementing what Marcelo often described as a "fraternal relationship" between the two nations.

Marcelo's European Legacy: Unshakeable Europeanism

Throughout his decade in office, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa positioned himself as one of the EU's most vocal and unapologetic champions among national leaders. He repeatedly declared that Portugal would "never, never, ever" abandon the European project, framing it as "inseparable from the nation's identity." His speeches often invoked the 1986 accession to the European Economic Community as the moment that "changed Portuguese history," delivering freedom, democracy, rule of law, development, and social justice.

Yet Marcelo also challenged the EU to do more, warning that Europe had "lost time" on youth policy, technological innovation, and common defense. He advocated for a "Europe with its own defense," with Portugal and Spain at the core, and called for a stronger, more cohesive geopolitical role in a world increasingly dominated by U.S.-China competition.

His tenure coincided with multiple crises: the migrant influx of 2015–2016, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and rising populist movements across the continent. Marcelo consistently framed these challenges as tests of European unity and democratic resilience, urging citizens to prioritize shared values over narrow national interests.

What This Means for Residents

For Portugal's expat community, public servants, and business leaders, today's Brussels ceremony offers a final symbolic gesture of institutional continuity before the António José Seguro era begins. Seguro, who won the February 2026 presidential election with 66.8% of the vote, is expected to maintain Portugal's pro-European trajectory, but with a different personal style.

A former Socialist Party leader (2011–2014) and MEP (1999–2001), Seguro served as vice-president of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and co-authored the Parliament's report on the Treaty of Nice and the future of the EU. His academic background in International Relations and Political Science positions him as a technocratic, dialogue-oriented leader, contrasting with Marcelo's populist charisma and constant media presence.

Seguro has pledged to be the President of "all, all, all Portuguese people," emphasizing stability, unity, and institutional dialogue. His election is seen by analysts as a reinforcement of democratic stability in a Europe grappling with polarization.

The Cohabitation Comparison: Marcelo-Costa vs. Soares-Cavaco

Political historians have long compared the Marcelo-Costa partnership to the Soares-Cavaco cohabitation. Both involved leaders from opposing political families navigating a semi-presidential system with significant room for conflict. Yet the outcomes differed dramatically.

The Soares-Cavaco era started peacefully but deteriorated into "turbulence," with President Soares issuing vetoes, demanding Constitutional Court reviews, and publicly criticizing Cavaco's "blocking forces." Cavaco, who enjoyed two consecutive absolute majorities, grew frustrated with what he saw as presidential interference.

By contrast, the Marcelo-Costa era, while not free of tension, was marked by institutional restraint. Marcelo's critiques—such as calling a housing law a "billboard law" or describing the Socialist majority as "reheated and tired"—were delivered through media commentary and soft power rather than formal vetoes. Costa, for his part, maintained that relations were "friendly and growing stronger."

The difference reflects both personalities and context: Marcelo's background as a law professor and media commentator made him skilled at influencing public debate without triggering constitutional crises, while Costa's minority government and later absolute majority both required careful navigation of presidential prerogatives.

The Road Ahead

As Marcelo boards his flight back to Lisbon tonight, his decade-long presidency will be remembered as one of pragmatic Europeanism, media savvy, and institutional flexibility. His meetings today with Metsola, von der Leyen, and Costa close a chapter in which Portugal punched above its weight in Brussels, with a former Prime Minister now leading the European Council and a President who never missed an opportunity to champion EU unity.

For António José Seguro, the task will be to maintain that European credibility while forging his own presidential identity. His March 9 inauguration before the Assembly of the Republic will mark the start of a new era—one shaped by the institutional foundations laid during the Marcelo-Costa years, but facing new challenges in a more fragmented and uncertain Europe.