Portugal has no intention of paying reparations for slavery, the country's government said in a statement to local media Lusa.
The statement read that the government would like to "deepen mutual relations, respect for historical truth and increasingly intense and close cooperation, based on the reconciliation of brotherly peoples," however, it had "no process or program of specific actions" for paying reparations.
The statement was made despite the country's President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, recently declaring that Lisbon is responsible for past mistakes and should pay for crimes committed during colonial rule.
"We cannot put this under the carpet or in a drawer. We have an obligation to pilot, to lead this process [of reparations]", the president told reporters on Saturday.
Portugal sold nearly six million Africans into slavery, more than any other European country. During the colonial period, countries such as Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, East Timor and parts of India were under Portuguese rule.