The president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said in Porto on Friday that commenting at this time about Prime Minister António Costa’s participation in the European Council was “not good for Portugal or for Europe”.
Upon arrival at the Palácio de Cristal, where the celebration of São João, in Porto, will begin, the head of state asked journalists to ask this question within a year, when the results of the European elections scheduled for early June 2024.
“The President of the Republic, what he had to choose from his future, chose within the existing conditions and now he must fulfill the mandate to the end. What everyone, in the Portuguese and European scene, wants to follow is their own choice and everything what I said now was not good for Portugal or for Europe”started saying Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
And continued: “Since it’s not my job to create problems for Portugal or Europe, I won’t say anything.”
Bearing in mind that we are one year away from the European elections that “there will be a certain result and, as a result, interparty agreements on the distribution of important seats”stressed that the country has “whoever is in office in Portugal, therefore it is not good for Europe or Portugal to speculate on that at the moment”.
“Wait for São João next year and ask me the question, because then it will be easier to give the answer”responded to the urging of journalists.
On the issue of migrants from Samouco, he said it was “a serious matter” and that “it is good that it is monitored and investigated” because it is “in the interest of Portuguese society, but also out of respect for people and that is fundamental”. “.
When asked if a new agency dealing solely with these issues could speed up the response, he recalled the transition process, which he considered “very long.”
“I followed what the Home Secretary did to find labor balances, which was difficult, and that was to take the SEF and distribute it to the PSP, GNR, judicial police, keep part of the old structure and create a new agency and inherit this new agency from the past which is the result of this transitional period However, problems remained until normalization here is a transitional time and in that sense complaints arise because it takes so long to regularize what comes from the past”defended.
An idea has been launched “by BE, in the previous government, and then it was widely accepted by parliament”, which is reflected “some logic, for certain missions, police and more administrative, that the agency intends to go straight to social issues”.
Source: DN
