Portuguese embassy in Ivory Coast to reopen, ‘proves deepening of relations’
The Portuguese diplomatic representation, with an embassy in Abidjan, was one of the issues addressed Monday in a bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York.
Portugal’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, speaking to Lusa, that relationships with Ivory Coast have been strengthened in recent years and will grow with the reopening of the Portuguese embassy.
The Portuguese diplomatic representation, with an embassy in Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast, was one of the issues addressed Monday in a bilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) high-level week.
Augusto Santos Silva assured that the reopening of the Portuguese embassy in Ivory Coast, announced in 2019, is closer, with the “process of appointing the ambassador” now underway.
He stressed that this is “another step in deepening the bilateral relationship between the two countries, which has grown, both from a political and economic point of view, in recent years.”
Portugal’s diplomatic representation in Ivory Coast, closed since 2000, is now in the hands of the Portuguese embassy in Dakar, Senegal.
Portugal and Ivory Coast established diplomatic relations in 1975, and in 1989, the Portuguese embassy in Abidjan was opened on the occasion of a state visit by President Mario Soares. The Portuguese embassy was then closed in 2000 as part of a restructuring of diplomatic missions and also due to the unstable situation in Côte d’Ivoire.
The two countries agreed in 2015 to open embassies in Lisbon and Abidjan, an agreement that Côte d’Ivoire implemented in 2016 with the opening of a diplomatic representation in Portugal.
