The new government of Portugal, led by Prime Minister Luíz Montenegro, is in favour of Ukraine's accession to the European Union.

"Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has given a clear signal that he is in favour of EU enlargement. This is something that I think needed to be clarified because Portugal had some hesitations, especially when it was being given candidate status last year," Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel, who criticised the indecision of the previous government, said as reported by Euractiv.

Rangel acknowledged that the previous socialist government of former Prime Minister António Costa was completely on Ukraine's side, but on the issue of enlargement "there was at least some hesitation there, which always created a margin of ambiguity."

"Now there is no ambiguity," he added.

The former prime minister has repeatedly warned that EU enlargement should be accompanied by reform of the bloc's structures, including its budget, to avoid imbalances in, for example, the distribution of European funds, the representation of countries in the European Parliament and even the rules of decision-making between member states.

Responding to these concerns, Rangel acknowledged that enlargement "of course implies financial and treaty reform."

"That was the position of the previous government and it remains the same," he added, drawing a distinction with the current government, which has shown a "firm commitment to support enlargement when it has to take place".

This week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with Portugal's new Prime Minister Luíz Montenegro. They agreed to start working on a security agreement.

Prior to that, the new minority government in Portugal, led by Luíz Montenegro, was sworn in.