Brussels, Jan. 7, 2021 (Lusa) - Portugal's prime minister, António Costa, said on Thursday that Portugal was "ready" for a European Union (EU) presidency in person and also virtually, given the worsening of the Covid-19 outbreak in Europe, which is why he concentrated the "key moments" on one weekend.

"We are prepared for a face-to-face [EU] presidency, but also for a virtual presidency, and that is why we have tried to concentrate on the key moments of this half-year on 7 and 8 May in Porto," he said at a digital meeting with international correspondents.

In this 'online' session - which is usually face-to-face and takes place during the foreign press visit to the country hosting the EU rotating presidency - António Costa highlighted that one of these moments, which takes place on 7 May, is the "Social Summit [...], which will give important support to the action plan that the European Commission will present at the end of February".

The "informal Council on the Social Pillar" is scheduled for 8 May and the EU-India Summit will take place at the end of that day.

"In two days, we will hold the Social Summit, the informal Council and the summit with India, to avoid the difficulties that we all know with regard to face-to-face events at times of pandemic", the prime minister said.

The declarations were made at a time when the number of Covid-19 cases is rising sharply across Europe, particularly in Portugal, and when some countries are considering re-adopting more restrictive measures after the end-of-year festivities.

The vaccination of EU citizens is also underway these days, with the drugs developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, and it is expected that next week the same will happen with the Moderna vaccine, approved this Wednesday by the European regulator.

In this virtual meeting with journalists, António Costa highlighted the "incredible effort" made by researchers, who "developed a vaccine in record time", and by the pharmaceutical industry, which "has been able to produce millions of doses".

However, he admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic "does not go away with the snap of your fingers", even though he shares "the same anxiety" as citizens for this to happen.

"Everyone is anxious for the crisis to end and to eliminate Covid-19 today, but unfortunately this is not possible", he reiterated.

Portugal takes over the rotating presidency of the EU until the end of June.

ANE/ADB // ADB.

Lusa