Ricardo Araújo, president of the Municipality of Guimarães, stated that he will continue to receive all ambassadors accredited to Portugal, after questions raised about his meeting with the ambassador of Israel, Oren Rozenblat. The mayor explained that this meeting was part of a broader set of hearings granted to approximately 13 ambassadors from different countries, within the framework of the investiture session of the Academy of Diplomacy, held for the first time in Guimarães, at the Paço dos Duques de Bragança.
According to Ricardo Araújo, these meetings had as their main objective to promote Guimarães among the international diplomatic community and explore new partnerships and possible twinning arrangements with cities and institutions from the represented countries. The mayor stressed that the only criterion used by the municipality is the official diplomatic recognition by the Portuguese State, framing this action within the institutional responsibilities of the position.
Over the past 11 months, the president of the Municipality stated that he has already received many ambassadors in Guimarães, considering this a deliberate strategy to strengthen the municipality's visibility nationally and internationally.
According to information previously released by the municipality, the meeting with Oren Rozenblat focused on possible areas of collaboration between Guimarães and Israel, namely in the fields of innovation, technology, civil protection, human resources qualification and investment attraction. The possible installation, at AvePark, of an industrial unit of a company from the Israeli group TAG Medical was also discussed.
