On 3 August 2026, Comendador Anthony Bailey, Hon \u00a0Consul-General of His Majesty The King of Tonga to the Portuguese Republic, was warmly received by Dr Paula Levy, Secretary-General of Lisbon City Council \u00a0for a meeting at her office in Lisbon.<\/p>\n
The warm and fruitful meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the growing ties between Lisbon and Nuku\u02bbalofa, the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga, as well as the broader relationship between the Portuguese and Tongan peoples.<\/p>\n
Discussions explored opportunities to deepen links between the two capital cities and to encourage greater awareness in Portugal of Tonga, its people, culture and distinctive Pacific heritage.<\/p>\n
Lisbon and Nuku\u02bbalofa are two capital cities whose identities are closely connected to the ocean. Lisbon has also established itself as an important centre for international cooperation on ocean affairs. In 2022, the Portuguese capital hosted the United Nations Ocean Conference, co-hosted by Portugal and Kenya, which brought together governments and international organisations from across the world to advance action for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans.<\/p>\n
The Kingdom of Tonga was represented in Lisbon at the highest levels, including by the then Prime Minister, Hon. Hu\u02bbakavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, and the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Fekitamoeloa Katoa \u2018Utoikamanu. Their participation reflected the fundamental importance of the ocean to Tonga and to the wider Pacific region.<\/p>\n
The links between the peoples of Tonga and Lisbon have also continued to develop, with a growing number of Tongans visiting the Portuguese capital. A particularly significant moment came during World Youth Day Lisbon 2023 and the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to Portugal, when 105 Tongan pilgrims travelled to Portugal to participate in the celebrations. Their presence represented the largest organised group of Tongans to visit Portugal and provided an important opportunity for direct contact between Tongan visitors and the people of Lisbon.<\/p>\n
Against this background, the meeting provided an opportunity to consider the natural links between Lisbon and Nuku\u02bbalofa and their respective Atlantic and Pacific perspectives, particularly the importance of the oceans to their peoples, cultures, economies and national identities.<\/p>\n
Since the establishment of the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of Tonga in Portugal in 2022, Tonga\u2019s diplomatic mission has consistently enjoyed the warmest and most cordial relations with Lisbon City Council. The Consulate-General has greatly valued the friendship and welcome extended by the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, as well as by the Secretary-General and successive members and officials of the city administration.<\/p>\n
This close relationship has been reflected in the Consulate-General\u2019s participation in a number of important civic and international occasions in the Portuguese capital and in the continuing engagement between Tonga\u2019s representation in Portugal and the City of Lisbon.<\/p>\n
Portugal and Tonga established diplomatic relations on 1 November 2008. The establishment of the Consulate-General in 2022 marked Tonga\u2019s first permanent diplomatic presence in Portugal and has provided a platform from which to broaden relations at national, regional and municipal level.<\/p>\n
Comendador Bailey thanked Dr Levy for the warm welcome extended to him and for a particularly fruitful exchange. He expressed his hope that the meeting would contribute to an increasingly close relationship between Lisbon and Nuku\u02bbalofa, between the peoples of both capital cities and, more broadly, between the peoples of Portugal and the Kingdom of Tonga.<\/p>\n
Dr Levy assumed the position of Secretary-General in 2026, succeeding the longstanding public servant Dr Alberto Laplaine Guimar\u00e3es.<\/p>\n
Instagram: Facebook: #Tonga #Portugal #Lisboa #Nukualofa #TongaPortugal #OceanDiplomacy #UnitedNationsOceanConference #WorldYouthDay #JMJ2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 3 August 2026, Comendador Anthony Bailey, Hon \u00a0Consul-General of His Majesty The King of Tonga to the Portuguese Republic, was warmly received by Dr Paula Levy, Secretary-General of Lisbon City Council \u00a0for a meeting at her office in Lisbon. The warm and fruitful meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the growing ties between Lisbon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"image_01":"","image_02":"","image_03":"","image_04":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14768"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14778,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14768\/revisions\/14778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tonga-gov.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n@camara_municipal_lisboa<\/a>
\n@c_moedas<\/a><\/p>\n
\nC\u00e2mara Municipal de Lisboa<\/a>
\nCarlos Moedas<\/a><\/p>\n