Of all 27 member states, Portugal is still one that looks at Europe as an elite country. The perspective is from Fernanda Gabriel, journalist correspondent for years for RTP in Strasbourg.
In the European Parliament, the journalist told DN that she had been a European correspondent for many years, on the day she was honored by the President of the Republic (who was on an official visit to Strasbourg) for her work in the service of information about Europe. With so many years of contact with reality and community politics, Fernanda Gabriel emphasizes the importance that Portugal attaches to Europe. It is also one of the few countries that exports its best politicians to the European context. “We have very good MEPs. Portugal has an important weight in decision-making and still sends its best politicians to the European Parliament,” says Fernanda Gabriel. It doesn’t happen in other countries. France sends those who cause problems within a party, for example, ex-ministers who are not interested at all and do not know where to put them, and therefore – European list. Portugal has never been like this,” he believes. This may be due to its late arrival in the European context and also its later democratization than in other contexts. “Our delegation has a lot of weight and there are young MEPs, such as Lídia Pereira [PSD]who are going to go far,” he says. Another example of this relevance are past MEPs such as Mário Soares (“People said he didn’t come to do anything, but he was always there and even wrote some reports”, Remember) or Jose Pacheco Pereira. “We have had great, great quality people,” he says, also highlighting the names of José Manuel Fernandes and Paulo Rangel (PSD) and Marisa Matias (Bloco de Esquerda), current MEPs. “This generation of deputies is also excellent and is the continuation of what it has been over the years”.
Source: DN
