Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa ended his state visit to the Kingdom of Belgium on Thursday, on a day marked by a “strong economic component”, with a visit to the port of Zeebrugge.
“This port is connected to the port of Antwerp and together constitutes the largest port in the world in terms of vehicle transport,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, justifying the importance of visiting a port that is also “the largest in Europe in terms of energetic terms”.
In the background, on the horizon of the North Sea, appear the colossal blades of wind turbines, which largely produce energy for the transformation of chemicals used in the production of green hydrogen. This port is also used for the transshipment of liquefied natural gas to Germany, which assumes a “strategic” importance in the context of the diversification of energy sources, according to mayor of the city of Bruges, Dirk De Fauw, who is also chairman of the port of Zeebrugge .
The President of the Republic assumed that “there is a potential space for cooperation here” between Portugal and the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, taking into account that “the integrated project that fits into what is one of the European priorities, in terms of energy transition”. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalls that “in Portugal we started first, more independently of partners or external suppliers”.
The Head of State emphasizes the “cooperation with the port of Sines”, as well as “with other ports”, namely through “interconnection from the south”. However, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa states that he “realized exactly the points where there are limits to cooperation”.
Marcelo does not rule out the prospect of competition between the Belgian port of Zeebrugge and Portuguese ports. However, he understands that there are several areas where “collaboration” is possible.
“For example, cooperation in the field of wind offshoreI think he has feet to walk. In the field of ammonia, if the issue continues, there is room for cooperation,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who submitted these proposals to Dirk De Fauw, chairman of the port.
“In the field of gas, it is clear that there are different origins, there are different situations and of course there are different priorities of different countries, yet (…) the Netherlands is involved in European bets and in European dialogues,” the president admitted , although he believes that it “may converge in the future, on points that will only be deepened in the future”.
The meetings in the port of Zeebrugge were a “very important” point during the state visit considered by the President of the Republic. “They already knew and followed Sines, they had a team there that (…) supported the start-up of some projects, [e] They admired our clean energy policies, but had no precise idea of what we could contribute to,” he said.
The President highlighted the examples of “ammonia and wind farms” as “two doors” opening in the perspective of “cooperation” between the ports of Portugal and Belgium.
When asked whether the central location of countries such as Belgium does not put Portugal in a less favorable position on this energy issue, Marcelo was of the opinion that “Portugal is central in a different way”.
“For example, when it comes to American gas, and everything that comes from the South or the West, it is also in a very central position, especially because it forced convergence with Spain in advance and convinced France to overcome its interconnection problems. ” , Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa illustrated, emphasizing that “other countries in Southern Europe are in a much more complicated situation than ours, even important countries in Southern Europe”, such as “Italy or Greece”.
Marcelo assessed the visit “very positively” and noted that “state visits are normally more symbolic than effective. [e] Here they worked so well that I regret not bringing, for example, the Minister of the Environment or the Minister of Science and Higher Education.”
In Bruges, after a short tour of the city, accompanied by Mayor Dirk De Fauw, the President of the Republic had an informal meeting with Portuguese students from the College of Europe. This was the second meeting with Portuguese students in Belgium. On Wednesday, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited the University of Namur.
Marcelo believes that “the cultural, academic and university aspects went very well”, although “relations between the universities were already very good”.
However, during a meeting with the Portuguese community in the municipality of Saint-Gilles in Brussels, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasized that “there are problems to be solved”, especially increasing participation in local politics.
“The Portuguese electorate constitutes only 10% of the community, which is not much. Please register,” the president called, adding ironically that “all the good you do is as important as Cristiano’s goal Ronaldo”.
“The fundamental advantage is that the great people of each country pass at any time, but the Portuguese communities remain. That doesn’t mean they don’t have roots in Portugal, it doesn’t mean some don’t. go to Portugal and then come, but it remains the presence of a strong community. Therefore, next year, in the elections in which you can exert influence, those of local power, please register on time and vote, and vote to honor Portugal”, he claimed.
Source: DN
