Ana Paula Zacarias, who is preparing to leave her post as Portugal's permanent representative to the UN at the end of the month, assured that the change in government has not resulted in "significant news" in the work that the Portuguese mission has been carrying out, highlighting that the country already has a list of "absolutely very good" support in its race for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council. "Of course, we will have to continue to intensify this campaign over the next two years, to confirm all the support that we have been receiving, and I am convinced that the current government will certainly make a formal presentation of the campaign soon. Most likely during the high-level week, in September", said the diplomat, in an interview with Lusa in New York. "From that moment on, Portugal will start sending its priorities to other countries in terms of what its program will be when it takes its seat on the Security Council (...). And it will also certainly intensify all bilateral relations, continuing the work that has already been done", she explained. The election in question for the Security Council - one of the most important bodies of the United Nations, whose mandate is to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security - will take place in 2026, for the 2027/2028 biennium. Portugal's direct opponents are Germany and Austria, in a dispute for the two non-permanent member seats allocated to the Western European and Other States group. The candidacy was formalized in January 2013 and the elections for the aforementioned mandate will take place during the 81st General Assembly of the United Nations, in 2026, the year in which António Guterres ends his second five-year term as UN Secretary-General. Ana Paula Zacarias will be replaced by Rui Manuel Vinhas Tavares Gabriel, who will take office on June 1st and who should continue the work that has been done with a view to the Security Council and which involves transmitting "a positive image" of Portugal, which "is capable of building bridges and understanding the problems of others, defending their interests", said the diplomat. In order to demonstrate Portugal's ability to "reach other countries, to listen and to help", the Portuguese diplomat stated that two cooperation programs have been developed with small island states and with landlocked countries, which have served to strengthen relations - and which may earn Portugal greater support in its mission to return to the Security Council. While Portugal already has a very close relationship with small island states, with landlocked countries, such as "Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Rwanda, Burundi or Mongolia", Portugal is now carrying out a special program in the digital area, indicated Zacarias. In addition, Portugal has been co-facilitator and co-chair in various processes within the United Nations, a role that "enhances its image as a reliable, credible country, with policies that are known to all and that knows how to listen, knows which paths to find, which paths to suggest to find consensus" and "that is where Portugal can make a difference, and has made a difference", reinforced the diplomat. In addition to the Security Council, efforts are also underway to make Portuguese one of the official languages of the United Nations, alongside English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian and Arabic. However, the financial effort involved in this objective has been an obstacle, since it would require, among other things, the "hiring of a large group of people who would be responsible for translation and interpretation" of UN documents and meetings or the creation of a program for learning the language by the secretariat staff. Without advancing with values, the ambassador assures that the amount will be "certainly quite high", but assesses that "there will not be much difficulty in politically convincing the United Nations that it is an important language". "Therefore, the big question here will really be the financial issue and convincing the UN, whose budget is always weakened and (...) in liquidity crises, to put up enough money for Portuguese to really become one of the working languages", she observed. When asked who is responsible for this funding, the ambassador explained that it is a "joint effort" between the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) and the United Nations. "Hence the importance of having the political support of other UN member states, so that this financial effort on the part of the United Nations complements the financial effort of the countries that have a direct interest in this language", she stressed. "Therefore, little by little we are doing this promotion and as Portuguese is heard more and spoken more, it will be easier to have Portuguese as an official language of the United Nations one day", added the diplomat. Portuguese is not only one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, with more than 260 million speakers spread across all continents, but it is also the most spoken language in the southern hemisphere, according to UNESCO data. Read Also: Temporary pier allowed almost 100 aid trucks to be taken to Gaza (Portuguese version)