The Portuguese ambassador to Doha, Qatar, was summoned to the Middle East by that country’s deputy prime minister to show him the local government’s dismay at the “hostile” statements made by figures of the Portuguese state, such as the president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo. de Sousa, and the Prime Minister, António Costa, moved up on Wednesday CNN Portugal🇧🇷
The ruler of Qatar declared to Paulo Pocinho that these statements are not acceptable and that only the historic friendship that unites the two countries will prevent drastic measures from being taken.
This has been confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs CNN Portugal that the Portuguese ambassador in Doha was, “as usual”, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, as part of the preparation for Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s trip to the country to attend the first match of the World Cup squad Cup, but without giving details.
The President of the Republic, who has been heavily criticized for changing the subject when asked about human rights following Portugal’s victory over Nigeria in Alvalade about a week ago and more recently for going to Qatar to attend the meeting live, guaranteed that he will talk about the issue of human rights in that country and explained that Portugal “has diplomatic relations with most states in the world and the vast majority are not democratic”.
António Costa said Portuguese political leaders will be in Qatar to support the national team and not human rights violations, discrimination against women or the Qatari regime. “The World Cup is there and if we go there we will certainly not support the Qatari regime, the violation of human rights in Qatar and the discrimination against women in Qatar. When we go there we will support the national team, the selection of all Portuguese supports.” people, the team that carries the flag”emphasized the Prime Minister, who will attend Portugal’s third group stage meeting against South Korea.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, will also be in Qatar.
PS deputy and former minister Alexandra Leitão defended on Sunday that Portugal should not be represented at the highest level at the World Cup in Qatar. For the former ruler, the three highest figures of the state are not allowed to attend the team’s matches at the World Cup in Qatar, a country that “does not deserve any respect from a human rights point of view”.
Portugal’s debut at the 2022 World Cup is next Thursday against Ghana, in a match that counts for Group H of the competition that ends on December 18.
Source: DN
