If Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visits kyiv this Wednesday, he will find a very different city from the one António Costa visited more than a year ago. Thousands of young people now walk the streets of the Ukrainian capital. The long lines of traffic remind us that this is a city with almost three million inhabitants, in times of peace, of course. The more than 30 degrees marked by the thermometers help to fill the terraces in the late afternoon on the main avenue of kyiv, right next to the Maidan square.
The visit of the President of the Republic has already received the green light from the Portuguese Parliament. On Sunday, upon his arrival in Poland, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made clear his desire to visit Volodymyr Zelensky. The invitation was made in May last year during a meeting between António Costa and the Ukrainian president. After the visit of António Costa and Augusto Santos Silva to Ukraine, it was decided that the President of the Republic “would stay until the end”, Marcelo also recalled in statements to journalists in the Polish capital. The truth is that the head of state’s trip depends on whether or not there are security conditions.
During the last year and a half, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has not tired of underlining the Portuguese support for Ukraine. For example, on the one year anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion, the President dined with a group of Ukrainian refugees in Lisbon. At his time, Marcelo announced that his visit to the country “will probably be in the summer.” If now, after the green light from Parliament, the security services give the go-ahead, Marcelo will finally be able to fulfill his wish to travel to Volodymr Zelensky, with whom he has had a “very good” relationship since the moment he was elected, he assured. some days ago. And, as he announced months ago, he must award Zelensky the Order of Freedom.
In Ukraine, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa should take the opportunity to highlight the Portuguese aid. Portugal has already sent, according to data from the Portuguese Defense Ministry, more than 1,125 tons of military material to kyiv. In the last package, announced by Minister Helena Carreiras, last June, 14 M113 vehicles, armored vehicles used to transport troops, went to Ukraine. Portugal has also helped with fighter training in kyiv and has already promised to help fly the F-16 fighters. However, whether the President of the Republic will be able to take advantage of a possible visit to Ukraine to announce an increase in Portuguese aid is, for now, a mystery that only time can unravel.
Ukraine celebrates Independence Day on Thursday, voted by the Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, on August 24, 1991 and approved in a referendum on December 1 of the same year. This year, the country’s authorities decided to cancel all public celebrations, starting with the traditional military parade at Praça da Independência. The goal is to avoid large concentrations in times of war. But to remind you that the war started a year and a half ago, in the heart of kyiv there are now hundreds of tanks, missile remnants and other Russian army material shot down by Ukraine since February 24.
Source: TSF
