April 25th: European Union marks “inspiring” day in the history of Portugal and Europe – Current Affairs

Intervening at the opening of what was the last vote of the European assembly in the current 2019-2024 legislature – the European Parliament will only hold a plenary session again in July, after the European elections in June -, Metsola began by marking the 50th anniversary of the Revolution of Carnations in Portugal, being applauded by the hemicycle, in which dozens of deputies from different political forces, and not just Portuguese, displayed carnations.

According to the President of the European Parliament, the 25th of April constitutes “a moment in European History that still reverberates and inspires today, a day on which democracy, freedom and dignity once again took their place in Portugal, and which reminds us that we must never take these fundamental European values ​​for granted.”

“Therefore, the symbolism of today is all the more significant as we gather for the last voting session of this IX legislature of the European Parliament”, he added.

Carnations and «Grândola» in Strasbourg to celebrate values ​​under threat in the EU

The 50th anniversary of the 25th of April was also marked today at the European Parliament, in Strasbourg (France), with Portuguese MEPs distributing carnations and singing “Grândola Vila Morena”, in defense of the values ​​of the revolution in “gray” times.

Early in the morning, in an initiative of the European Parliament’s Left Group, deputies from this political family, namely from the Left Bloc and the PCP, distributed close to a thousand carnations outside the assembly, to the deputies, assistants and visitors who were present. on what is the last day of the plenary session of the current legislature (2019-2024).

Inside the Parliament, before the last vote of the legislature, at the entrance to the hemicycle, the group of European Socialists also promoted a moment of celebration, with a family photo, which was joined by deputies from various political forces and nationalities, who They sang the emblematic song of the revolution more than once and shouted “fascism never again”.

With the European elections on the horizon (June 6th to 9th), and when a strong rise in the extreme right is anticipated, which ‘threatens’ to significantly increase its representation in the European Parliament, deputies from the Left group highlighted the importance of defending April values, given the risk of setbacks.

“We live in times in Europe when there are more and more political forces that want to attack democracy, or are already attacking democracy. We have attacks on freedom of expression, on fundamental rights that we thought were acquired and irreversible, such as women’s rights, minority rights, and also problems at the level of citizens regarding things as fundamental as a dignified life, the right to housing, the right to health and education”, said José Gusmão, from Bloco de Esquerda, to Lusa.

The bloc deputy defended that “remembering the 25th of April is important to understand that democracy is not just political representation and a set of political rights that are fundamental, it is also a broader set of rights that constitute it, and if these rights are not respected, are not defended, are not expanded, the risk of returning to the past remains”.

“And this European Parliament, even in its current composition, is there to remind us of that. Yesterday we had a debate about the denial of dictatorships, in which we had far-right deputies apologizing for regimes that we thought had been defeated forever. And they can be defeated forever, but we have to mobilize”, he concluded.

For João Pimenta Lopes, from the PCP, “it is fundamental, even in view of what still remains to be accomplished with the April Revolution”, to mark the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, “remembering what those greatest values ​​were, that greatest transformative process in the lives of Portugal and the Portuguese, and the values ​​that are projected into the future of the country’s development, but also the development of the people of Europe”.

According to the communist deputy, the Carnation Revolution should be “a reference and an example of the possibilities for transformation, at a particularly gray moment in history, where setbacks seem to occur almost daily”, at a social, labor level, but also “from the point of view of access to culture, sport”, so, also in the face of “the shadow of fascism and war, it is all the more important to mark, remember and evoke this day and this greatest moment, these values ​​that are projected from April onwards”.

Inside the Parliament, at the entrance to the hemicycle shortly before the start of the last vote of the legislature, the Socialist group organized a small event, also distributing carnations and small posters, which was attended by MEPs from different political forces and nationalities.

“It is a symbolic moment of great significance for all of us, at the conclusion of this legislature. We are here celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April in the middle of the European Parliament, here in Strasbourg”, commented to Lusa the deputy Isabel Santos, from the PS, who, with the European elections on the horizon, also left “a great appeal for the preservation of democratic values, a conscious, critical vote in defense of the European project”.

Also present at the small evocative ceremony, Lídia Pereira, 31-year-old PSD deputy, highlighted the fact that she is “the granddaughter of freedom”, so “if it weren’t for the freedom of April 25th, I wouldn’t be able to be here today performing my duties as an MEP”.

“April 25th was fundamental for the Portuguese to have the opportunity to develop, to consolidate, to grow with their membership in the European Union, and I believe that this is what we also celebrate here”, he told Lusa.

Charles Michel celebrates revolution that began transition to democracy

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, today joined the Portuguese in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, highlighting that the revolution began the country’s transition to democracy.

In a message posted on his account on the social network X, Michel wrote, in Portuguese and English, that “50 years ago today, a peaceful revolution paved the way for Portugal’s transition to democracy”.

“Today we join the Portuguese people in commemorating the Carnation Revolution”, added the leader of the European Council, a body that brings together heads of state with executive and government power in the European Union.

Today Portugal celebrates the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, when a group of soldiers from the Armed Forces Movement deposed the Estado Novo regime, beginning the country’s transition to democracy.