André Ventura was received by the President of the Republic at his request regarding the parliamentary process on euthanasia, after being questioned by journalists about the thanks Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed to the Gypsies in a suggestive message dated December 1 that ” have given their lives” for national independence, deploring the discrimination they have been exposed to in Portugal.
“I am not aware of the participation of the Gypsy community in that independence process, it was certainly a historical note of the presidency of the Republic,” he began by replying, denying that the party had ever “challenged” the Gypsy community or despised. , despite repeated critical statements over the years, such as the suggestion that there was a specific isolation plan for this community, in the early months of the covid-19 pandemic.
What André Ventura would like to see “is that the government is not only happy with the participation of Gypsies in national life, which is important”, but also “able to attract the attention of the Gypsy community whenever it has to under the be brought to attention”.
“If it’s a laudatory exercise, you can say it’s the gypsy community, but if it’s a critical exercise, you can’t call it the gypsy community anymore,” he said.
For the President of Chega, the head of state, “to say that nobody should be discriminated against in Portugal, be it gypsies, people of African descent, Asians, immigrants, that is positive”.
“The President of the Republic has the right and legitimacy to make this judgment, but we would also like to see governments sometimes critically exercise that same community and we never see that,” he stressed.
The message published this morning on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic reads that “by remembering so many Portuguese, of so many origins, who became involved in the revolutionary movement, the President of the Republic also wants to remember the Portuguese of Gypsy ethnicity who, as he recognized then King D. João IV himself, gave their lives for our national independence”.
In the message greeting the day “when brave warriors liberate the nation”, the head of state highlights the “noble knight” Jerónimo da Costa and many of the 250 other gypsies who served on the borders and died in Portugal.
“Portugal remembers them, pays tribute to them and expresses its gratitude. This duty of remembrance is of basic justice and breaks with so much neglect and discrimination that Gypsies are sadly targeted in our country”.
Source: DN
