LISBON, June 29 -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Antonio Costa congratulated Antonio Vitorino on being elected as head of the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday.
IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration.
"The election of Antonio Vitorino is of great importance to Portugal in an area as important and sensitive as migration," said Rebelo de Sousa, in a statement posted on the president's website.
"Portugal continues to assume responsibilities in the management of migration with the election of Antonio Vitorino as Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), for which I warmly congratulate him," Costa twitted.
"The Portuguese Government has no doubt that Antonio Vitornio is the right person to lead the OIM in this difficult period and that his management will prioritize the promotion of peace and security, tolerance, respect for human rights and sustainable development, which Portuguese foreign policy is likewise orientated towards." the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
Vitorino was appointed to the role after four rounds of voting at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
IOM's current Director General, William Lacy Swing, will be stepping down after completing the second of two five-year terms.
Vitorino, 61, is expected to begin his directorship on Oct. 1 of 2018.
The IOM has 169 member states and became integrated within the framework of the UN in 2016.
Vitorino is a former European Union (EU) commissioner for home and justice affairs.
He is also a former Portuguese minister, having served as defense minister and deputy prime minister in the Socialist Party government of Antonio Guterres, now the UN chief, from 1995 to 1997.