The president of the republic believed that the two-day surprise trip to Ukraine “fulfilled all objectives”, succeeded in violating protocol despite tight security, and revealed what he believed to be the hopes of an entire population.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrived at dawn on Wednesday and wasted no time. He wanted to see for himself the landscape he called “shocking” in Bucha, Moshchun and Irpin, locations on the outskirts of Kiev that were temporarily occupied by Russian troops. The recapture revealed mass graves and the horrors of the Russian occupation.
In Moshchun, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made it a point to be “the first president”, as the deputy governor of the Kiev region put it, “hiding” in the trench created by the “popular resistance” in the first days of the elections. invasion.
Only Volodymyr Zelenski had done it and the Portuguese head of state also wanted to understand as much as possible what it was like to be protected against bombardments and to offer resistance. And when reality did not allow a glimpse of the devastation the world experienced a year ago, he resorted to virtual reality equipment to “be” in the mutilated locations shortly after the occupation ended.
He insisted on being present at the summit on Crimea and was adamant about Portugal’s position and criticism: any solution for Ukraine’s future that does not include this peninsula as part of Ukrainian territory is “noise”.
And today he reiterated that the borders of Ukraine are exactly the same as exactly 32 years ago, when the country gained independence.
He spoke to a woman slightly younger than him in Moshchun and confessed to journalists that at that time he managed to see “the past, the present and the future” of Ukraine.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, always surrounded by his security team and the Ukrainian army, preferred to surround himself with ordinary people, as he is used to in Portugal, taking advantage of the fact that Kiev ‘went out’ to walk along Rua Khreschatyk. walk, the most emblematic of the capital, which ‘flows’ into Place Maidan, scene of the revolution.
Tight security managed to contain a president known for breaking protocols, but it wasn’t enough to stop the ‘sea of people’ who were taken by surprise by seeing a head of state walking around taking the usual ‘selfies’ want to make.
“Is it really the President of Portugal? Here?!” and “I’ve never seen a president walking around here,” was heard from the Khreschatyk below.
But the completed program that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa brought to Ukraine ran into very tight security restrictions that prevented him from going any further in his “revolt.” The country is at war and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has visited Zelensky several times, who is the face of the resistance against the Kremlin.
Volodymyr Zelensky surprised by being president as a comedian, then by refusing to leave the country when Russian troops were “at the door” of the capital and later by speeches that are gaining international support.
And Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa went to Kiev with the intention of surprising, speaking in Ukrainian during the celebration of the 32nd Independence Day and leaving the message that Portugal supports Ukraine’s intention to keep its original borders, before the Russian occupation.
“Who does not have the desire to return to Kiev?” he wondered at the end of the visit, inviting his Ukrainian counterpart to visit Portugal at a suitable date. He promises to bring the Ukraine issue to the top. of the Community of Countries of the Portuguese Language (CPLP) this weekend, and the feeling of having encountered a population that “breathes normally” despite the war.
Marcelo said it was only necessary to look around and see the thousands of people who, despite the sirens reminding them every day that there is war in the country, went out to celebrate the country’s independence, wandering among the Russian tanks captured and exposed. as if they want to saturate the morale of the populace.
Source: DN
