After years of tensions, Portugal and its one-time African colony Angola are seeking to put relations back on track, with high-level visits planned to push economic ties and repair their troubled past.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa arrives in Luanda on Monday, while Angola's President Joao Lourenco is due to visit Lisbon on November 23 and 24.
The diplomacy marks an effort to move beyond the legacy of colonial rule over Angola that ended in 1975 when Portugal withdrew without handing over power and Angola sank into civil war until 2002.
Angola's President Joao Lourenco delivers a speech during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo
"Angola and Portugal are emerging from a difficult phase. What's important is that both sides are able to identify the obstacles and troublesome elements in order to overcome them," Angola's Foreign Minister Manuel Augusto said last week.
A key source of friction was removed in May when a Portuguese court decided that Angola's former vice president Manuel Vicente can be tried in Luanda, rather than in Portugal, on corruption charges.
The visit by Costa, which has been postponed several times, is a "very important step" toward normalizing relations, said analyst Alex Vines of Britain's Chatham House think-tank.
"The animosity between the two countries seems to have dissipated, but the damage remains which, even though it can be fixed, will be felt for some time," Victor Silva, director of the Jornal de Angola, said in an editorial.
Angola is a key trading partner with its former colonial master, and the third largest recipient of its investments.
Portugal, battered by the global financial crisis, avoided bankruptcy with a bailout from the European Union, while Angola has become the tenth largest foreign investor in Portugal.
(Cover: File photo of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa /VCG Photo)