Boris Johnson assures Portuguese PM that Portuguese residents in the UK will be “respected”

The new British Prime Minister called his Portuguese counterpart, António Costa, on Monday of this week to introduce himself. Johnson promised him “full respect” for the Portuguese residents in the United Kingdom after Brexit, a process he believes will come to its climax by the 31^st of October.

In what was the first contact since the new leader of the British Conservative Party took over as prime minister last July, Boris Johnson expressed to António Costa “assurances for the full respect of the rights of the Portuguese people residing in the United Kingdom” after the UK’s departure from the European Union, reported a source from the office of the Portuguese Head of Government.

According to this source, in Boris Johnson’s call on Monday he also expressed “a great desire to strengthen bilateral relations with Portugal” after Brexit.

“Both prime ministers agreed that it was very important to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in the areas of science and technology, sea and defence”, since they are both European and Atlantic countries.

In the call, the UK prime-minister also reiterated to Costa the “goal of the British government to obtain an agreement before leaving the European Union by 31 October”.

In late July, Conservative party leader Boris Johnson was appointed Prime Minister following the formal resignation of Theresa May after her failure to come to a conclusion on the Brexit front.

The United Kingdom had planned to leave the EU on 29 March this year, but parliament rejected the Exit Agreement negotiated by the then prime-minister Theresa May, and the process was postponed until the 31 October.