Fezas Vital takes over the secretary-general office of Foreign Affairs and replaces Ribeiro Telles

Ambassador Domingos Teixeira de Abreu Fezas Vital has been appointed Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on a secondment basis, by joint order of the Prime Minister and the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs. The appointment is set forth in Order No. 12129/2026, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 194, of October 7, 2026, and takes effect on October 1, 2026. In the same bulletin, Order No. 12128/2026 relieves Ambassador Francisco Maria de Sousa Ribeiro Telles of his duties, effective September 30, 2026.

The secretary-generalship is the highest position in Portuguese diplomacy, responsible for conducting foreign policy on an administrative level and coordinating the ministry’s internal and external services. Both orders were signed on September 29, 2026, by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Artur dos Santos de Castro de Campos Rangel, and appear in the same issue of the 2nd series, confirming the direct transition between the two ambassadors.

The legal framework of the appointment

The appointment of Fezas Vital is made under the combined provisions of paragraph 6 of Article 8, paragraphs 1 and 7 of Article 20, and paragraph 3 of Article 21 of Decree-Law No. 121/2011, of December 29, as currently worded, and paragraph 1 of Article 3 of Regulatory Decree No. 10/2012, of January 19.

• Regime: secondment, with the appointee integrated into the ministry’s diplomatic personnel map.
• Remuneration: under paragraph 1 of Article 154 of Law No. 35/2014, of June 20, the appointee opts for the remuneration status corresponding to their original career.
• Effective date: October 1, 2026.
• Official justification: the academic and professional curriculum vitae attached to the order evidences a “suitable profile demonstrating the aptitude and professional experience necessary for the performance of the position.”

Diplomatic career of the new secretary-general

The curricular note published as an annex to Order No. 12129/2026 outlines a career of more than four decades in Portuguese diplomacy. Fezas Vital was born on September 27, 1958, in Luanda, holds a degree in Social and Legal Sciences from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a postgraduate degree in International Trade from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

• Entry into the career: passed the admission exam for embassy attaché opened on March 18, 1983; embassy attaché on March 12, 1984.
• Services in Brussels: Portuguese Representation to the European Communities (1989), Embassy in Brussels (1991) and Permanent Representation to NATO and the Western European Union (1994).
• Macau: diplomatic advisor to the Governor of Macau (1996) and head of the Coordinating Group of the Macau-Guangzhou Border Groups.
• Leadership positions: deputy director-general of the Directorate-General for Multilateral Affairs (1999) and consul-general in São Paulo (2000).
• Promotions: minister plenipotentiary 2nd class (2002), 1st class (2005) and Ambassador on March 20, 2010.
• Top missions: advisor for International Relations to the President of the Republic (2006), permanent representative of Portugal to the European Union (2012), Ambassador in Washington (2015), with non-resident accreditation to the Bahamas, and Ambassador to the Holy See (2022), also accredited to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
• Last post: special envoy to the Pacific within the framework of Portugal’s candidacy for the United Nations Security Council, 2027-2028 term, since December 12, 2025.

The dismissal of Ribeiro Telles

Order No. 12128/2026 determines, under the terms of paragraph 3 of article 21 of Decree-Law No. 121/2011, the dismissal of Ambassador Francisco Maria de Sousa Ribeiro Telles from the position of secretary-general, which he had held since the appointment made by Order No. 745/2023, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 11, of January 16, 2023. The dismissal takes effect on September 30, 2026, one day before the new holder assumes office, ensuring continuity of service without an interregnum.

The change at the top of the general secretariat occurs during a period of strong Portuguese external activity, marked by the candidacy for the United Nations Security Council for the 2027-2028 biennium, a mission structure created by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 156-A/2026, of July 30. The new secretary-general assumes the administrative coordination of this diplomatic machinery, with the experience of someone who has already represented Portugal in Brussels, Washington, and the Holy See.

Source: Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 194, of October 7, 2026, Foreign Affairs (official reference: Order No. 12129/2026).