Minister of Foreign Affairs accuses Chega of having a “double voice” in Portugal and Europe – Politics

This Wednesday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs accused Chega of having “a double voice” in Portugal and Europe and of threatening Portuguese “prestige”, after the party’s deputies declared themselves to be Europeanists and critics of the Russian President.

“You have one voice in Brussels and you have another here in Portugal because you are ashamed to say what you defend abroad”, said Paulo Rangel, addressing Chega deputies during a hearing at the parliamentary committee on European Affairs that took place today at Assembly of the Republic.

Chega, which since 2020 has been affiliated with the European far-right group Identity and Democracy (ID), places itself “alongside people who condemn Ukraine, who are in favor of [Vladimir] Putin.”

After naming the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, French politician Marine Le Pen and her National Union party or Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini (League) all members of the ID, Paulo Rangel said: ” I see your leader [André Ventura] alongside them all happy, they never denounced this, and then here, as they know that Portuguese public opinion will never accept this, they try to say that they have another position”.

In his intervention during the commission, Chega deputy António Pinto Pereira referred to “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine” and to Russian President Vladimir Putin as “this megalomaniac dictator who has the military intention of conquering Europe by force of arms.”

His bench colleague Pedro Correia stated: “For the record, Chega is a Europeanist party (…) and defends greater identity for its States”.

The same deputy assured that the party is not against immigration or immigrants, “recognizes the importance of immigrants in some sectors”, but “defends human dignity” and opposes “uncontrolled immigration”.

“I’m drawing attention to the insurmountable contradiction, why can’t you be here saying this and then, in the European Parliament, be alongside those who defend Putin’s regime, and who even defend the end of the European Union (EU) So, don’t say that you’re European, because otherwise ‘tell me who you hang out with and I’ll tell you who you are’, is an old Portuguese saying, since you like the Portuguese identity so much”, replied Rangel.

“You have to be credible, this speech is not credible”, said the minister, for whom Portugal is “in a very difficult position, when there is a party that has 50 deputies and is on the side of Russia”.

“This is seen throughout the European Union. I have no doubts about that. You are worried about betrayals of the country, be careful. It is Portugal’s prestige that is at stake”, he warned.

The minister’s position was supported by the Liberal Initiative, with deputy Bernardo Blanco saying he was “surprised by this change of position in relation to the Russian regime”, while Rui Tavares, from Livre, recalled that the head of Chega’s list in the elections European meetings of June 9, António Tânger Corrêa, “considered that the firm attitude of [Presidente ucraniano, Volodymyr] Zelensky’s defense of the entirety of Ukrainian sovereignty was a reflection of, I quote, thoughtless, idiotic and dangerous decisions.”

In “defending the party’s honor”, deputy Pinto Pereira accused the minister of “demagoguery” and “inelegance”.

“We still don’t have deputies in the European Parliament, I imagine we will have as many as the PSD [atualmente seis] or possibly more. We do not have any position of subservience towards any political family”, said the Chega deputy.

“We are a sovereign and democratic State. Portugal is not a hostage of Europe. This parliament is an organ of popular sovereignty and we represent the Portuguese here, in Lisbon and not in Brussels”, he further stated.