The chairman of Chega found the responses from the internal security system insufficient this Monday “concerned” about the security conditions of World Youth Day.
“Yesterday [domingo]the internal security system responded to the concerns expressed by Chega, noting that no situation involving a specific risk of terrorism, assistance to illegal immigration or international organized crime has been detected so far around World Youth Day,” André Ventura said at a press conference in Funchal.
Chega’s president thanked the answers given, although he assumed he had no “answer to the concerns” he had expressed regarding the security risk posed by the registration of citizens of Middle Eastern countries in the WYD.
“How many registrations have there been so far from citizens from the Middle East and especially from countries with a high prevalence of terrorism and Islamic extremism? That answer has not been given,” emphasizes André Ventura.
“The internal security system said that many of the registrations that have been made have not been completed. But how many have been made? How many have been started? How many are in the process of being started? So far we still don’t know,” he added.
André Ventura stressed that the internal security system ensured “that all visas are granted with specific and strict criteria” and that he did not specify which ones.
“And that’s why the suspicion Chega aroused […] that in fact the registration of thousands of people from the Middle East has been confirmed, people whose ‘backgrounds’ have not really been established, analyzed and investigated and people who may pose a risk to national security,” he said.
André Ventura also wants to know what measures the government proposes to guarantee “that these people, who manage to reach Portugal, do not stay on Portuguese territory after World Youth Day or travel to other countries of the European Union”.
“These were the answers we wanted and not some vague information that the criteria for granting visas are strict and judicious. Since we already know that quite frankly, we don’t know what measures the government is taking to deal with a risk real, with real numbers, really relevant in this matter,” he stressed.
On Sunday, the Internal Security System released a statement saying that no risk situation has been identified so far in the context of World Youth Day registration and that the criteria for visas are “specific and strict”.
“After raising public concerns about the number of registrants in the WYD2023 of nationals from countries of geographic areas who may ultimately pose a risk to the security of that event, the internal security system comes to clarify […] that all nationals of the above geographical areas require a Schengen visa to enter the European area and national territory,” the SSI said in a statement.
Chega’s president also said he understands that the security forces do not want to raise the alarm, but recalled that an attempt has already been made to assassinate a pope in Portugal.
Source: DN
