President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has admitted that currently, “it is very difficult to govern”, with the war in Ukraine forcing governments to divide themselves between internal and external issues.

Urged by journalists to comment on the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that he does not comment “on the internal issues of a country”, especially one which is the oldest ally of Portugal.

However, he did say that “the existence of war and the agitation of war, changing people’s living conditions” and “forcing rulers to be permanently divided between internal and external management, creates additional problems in all parts of the world”.

Gone but not gone…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resigned from the leadership of the Conservative Party, but has said he will remain at the head of the Government until the election of a new leader of the party, despite many calling for him to step down immediately.

The resignation of the 58-year-old Conservative leader, who took over as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in July 2019, followed the resignations of dozens of members of his executive and a succession of scandals.

100 days of government

With regard to the first 100 days of the Portuguese Government, the President of the Republic considered that they were “very difficult”.

“It is very difficult to govern when the world, at the moment, is very different from what it was six months ago. The war introduced this difference”.

“Wars bring turmoil. This idea that the war belongs to others is not realistic. If it was someone else's problem, then we wouldn’t feel the increases in prices of fuel”.