Montenegro warns against “unrealistic scenarios” in negotiations with police

The prime minister defended that it is necessary to give the population “an additional feeling of security”, in a ceremony in which he thanked the dedication of the former national director of the PSP but spoke of a “new stage” for this force.

Luís Montenegro presided over the inauguration ceremony of the National Director of the Public Security Police (PSP), superintendent Luís Carrilho, which took place at the Ministry of Internal Administration, in Lisbon.

“Security is objectively a factor of Portugal’s social and economic competitiveness. This is an enormous task, which involves multiple aspects, which should immediately give the Portuguese population an increased feeling of security”, he argued.

“We can be objectively safe and feel insecure, adding a feeling of security is a very important task nowadays because it contributes to the tranquility of people and the country”, he reinforced.

In this regard, he said he shares the positions expressed by the new national director of the PSP to give “an increase in the coming years to proximity policing”.

“We need to show our populations a more active, and also more preventive, presence of our security forces and the PSP in particular,” he said.

At the beginning of the inauguration, which was attended by the Ministers of Internal Administration and Justice and also the Cardinal Patriarch, the Prime Minister asked, in a good-natured tone, to the latter if he could “bless this ceremony and the mandate that is starts”.

“I would like to leave a word of recognition and gratitude to Superintendent José Barros Correia for his work throughout his career and in recent years at PSP”, highlighting his “dedication and commitment to dignifying” the values ​​of this police force.

The Prime Minister also congratulated the new director of the Public Security Police, highlighting his long career in Portugal and in international organizations.

“You are recognized for your great capacity for dialogue, a great spirit of mission, a high sense of responsibility, which are also a guarantee of the trust we place in you for this new stage, this new cycle of the PSP”, he highlighted.

Luís Carrilho, current commander of the Special Police Unit (UEP) and with an international career, namely at the United Nations, replaces José Barros Correia, dismissed on Monday by minister Margarida Blasco.

The minister justified the investment in a “new man” to lead the Public Security Police with the “profound restructuring” that the Government wants to carry out in the PSP, but has not yet explained the reasons for the dismissal of José Barros Correia, who had been in office since September 2023.

Asked about this replacement, but responding more generally, the Prime Minister defended on Tuesday that it is natural for a new Government to replace senior positions.

“We have started a new cycle of Government, within this cycle it is natural that there will be replacements of senior positions of responsibility that have to do with the execution of the Government Program and with the exercise of responsibilities that have political supervision. This must be said naturally , without dramatics”, Luís Montenegro then declared, in response to the media.