Paulo Rangel: “Pedro Nuno Santos is the face of Chega’s normalization”

The Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, accused this Thursday Pedro Nuno Santos, socialist leader, of being the face of Chega’s normalization in Parliament, claiming that, every week, the PS converges with André’s party Ventura.

“Pedro Nuno Santos is the face of Chega’s normalization, every day in Parliament. Every week he converges with Chega”, said Paulo Rangel, in an interview with SIC Notícias’ Evening Edition.

According to the government official, the Socialist Party and Chega are “in a true partnership” and want to replace the Government, not letting Luís Montenegro’s Executive govern. Even so, Rangel considers that the Government, despite the difficulties, is managing to impose its agenda. When asked about the Government’s work over the approximately 40 days in office, the minister asked, rhetorically:

“But is there any Government in the history of Portugal that after 30 days has implemented its program?”, he asked.

“Enlargement of the European Union is very positive for Portugal”, says Paulo Rangel

Paulo Rangel, former MEP and now minister, considers the enlargement of the European Union “very positive for Portugal”, pointing out that the fact that Ukraine becomes a Member State would bring great economic dynamism, as it has a “very attractive”.

“Taking into account that Ukraine is one of the largest breadbaskets in the world, the problem of food security and self-sufficiency would be resolved”, he pointed out.

“We are failing in the PRR”, highlighted the minister

Regarding the Recovery and Resilience Program (PRR), Rangel predicted that Portugal has implemented only 20% of the program when the deadline is already half over. He left, however, the guarantee that the Government will be able to reverse the situation and that it will already launch the necessary regulations.

“We are failing, but we will succeed. We will comply with the PRR and then start Portugal 20-30”, he said.

“Whoever enters Pope leaves Cardinal”: Rangel’s warning about Costa

António Costa’s name has been suggested for a European position. Although Paulo Rangel considers that the former prime minister has the profile to occupy a high position in European institutions, he left a warning:

“It is very important that we act with prudence, caution and discretion. It is essential if we want Portugal to be successful. Whoever enters Pope leaves Cardinal because he exposes himself to his rivals”, he concluded.

Portugal expressed “concern” to São Tomé about agreement with Russia

In an interview with SIC Notícias, the Minister of Foreign Affairs revealed that the Portuguese Government entered into consultation with the authorities of São Tomé and Príncipe immediately after it was reported that the CPLP country signed a military cooperation agreement with Russia.

“As soon as there was news of this agreement, we entered into consultations with the São Tomé authorities to explain that Portugal – in the first place – and meanwhile throughout the day other European states expressed strangeness, apprehension and perplexity at this agreement”, explains Paulo Rangel, adding that he expressed concern directly to his counterpart in São Tomé this Thursday.

The Liberal Initiative was today concerned about the Russia’s rapprochement with CPLP countries, expressing the desire to call Paulo Rangel to Parliament for further explanations. The minister remembers, however, that the CPLP “is not a military alliance” and that Portugal has never before communicated to member countries who their partners should or should not be.

“This does not mean, because we have very close cooperation, that we have not opened diplomatic channels to assess the situation and assert our points of view”, he states.

The Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), founded in 1996, is an international organization made up of Portuguese-speaking nations, whose purpose is to promote the strengthening of mutual friendship and cooperation between its members.