He started the day in parliament, stopped at the iconic A Brasileira for a coffee with Carlos Moedas and finally discussed the perspectives on current affairs in Europe at the Council of State chaired by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. With calls to young people not to give in to extremism and not leave choices to others – one of the key messages from Roberta Metsola, the youngest-ever President of the European Parliament (EP), when there is about a year left for the upcoming European elections. Along the way, Portugal’s “commitment” to the European Union was also praised.
And it was precisely there that Metsola began his speech in the Assembly of the Republic, in the “most European parliament”, speaking in a country that “embodies what it means to be European” – and receiving the first round of applause from the delegates. In a speech listing the “many challenges” Europe is currently facing – from Russia’s “illegal invasion of Ukraine” to price hikes, inflation and energy shortages – the EP president admitted that not everything is a success in the European project . “I’m not saying that the European Union is perfect. I wanted to share a lot of frustrations about our processes. But I came here today to say that Europe can be better if we work together,” he underlined, addressing the young people: ” I am here to appeal to people, especially young people, not to give in to the comfort of easy cynicism, not to accept the quiet retreat to extremes and political peripheries.”
In what was the first time an EP president took part in a plenary debate in the Assembly of the Republic, Metsola heard PS and PSD praise his achievements in supporting Ukraine. Paula Santos, parliamentary leader of the PCP, defended that “it is necessary to stop inciting and fueling the war in Ukraine and to open negotiation channels”, an intervention that received a harsh response from the European official: “I have decided to speak in the Ukrainian parliament on April 1, 2022. I ask you to say what you said here in front of Ukrainian parliamentarians.” “It’s not about sitting around the table and getting people to negotiate, it’s about getting Russia out of Ukraine.” replied Metsola. It also included a response to André Ventura’s criticism of the European Union’s migration policy: “Remember this: for millions of people, it’s even safer to get on board and face death. We’re talking about people.”
The migration issue was also on the agenda of the Council of State, which met for just over two hours this Friday afternoon and where it was defended “a migration policy better adapted to reality and human dignity”. According to a statement from the Presidency of the Republic, the councilors also pointed to the “current framework of uncertainty, but challenge and demand, both at European and global level”: “The importance of European Union cohesion in the face of the challenges that arise, namely in the field of human rights and the rule of law (…) in the field of migration policy, but also in the field of climate change, energy, digitalisation, artificial intelligence”.
Meanwhile, Metsola met with Lisbon Mayor and former European Commissioner Carlos Moedas (with whom he shares the same political family, the PPE) for a coffee in Chiado and a short walk.
Source: DN
