The Portuguese President today downplayed the recent controversies in parliament and stated that there is no “racist state of mind” in Portugal, considering that “having different speeches, sensibilities and points of view is part of democracy”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was speaking to journalists in Luanda, where today he attended the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Angola’s Independence.
Asked about the case involving the Portuguese-Angolan PS deputy, Eva Cruzeiro, who denounced racist insults from a Chega deputy who sent her “return to your homeland”Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that There is no situation in Portuguese society that can be generalized as a racist state of mind “in relation to the people, particularly the Portuguese-speaking brotherly peoples”.
“There are speeches, there are sensitivities, there are perspectives, but that is part of democracy”he added, stressing that “there are points of view that are not necessarily the majority, that are not widespread, but that follow a wave, a fashion in other countries”.
Marcelo stated that “one of Portugal’s problems is that it often copies what happens abroad” and considered that “this is an example that applies to immigration”.
“Immigration in many European countries is one thing, immigration in Portugal is something completely different,” he noted, referring to “the overwhelming weight of Portuguese-speaking communities” in the country.
The head of state preferred not to comment directly on the episode that took place in parliament, saying that “a fashion for a lot of emotion in speech and a lot of emotion with a more truculent tone than the one we were used to”.
“This happens every day,” he added.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted, however, that “we must have the exact notion that this is one thing; another thing is truly what people feel on a daily basis, what is the practice of everyday life, and we cannot generalize there”.
“It is unfair to generalize because it does not respond to the truth”, he concluded.