Africa-Press – Angola. The President of Angola, who visited Portugal, admits that the Portuguese government’s actions could jeopardize the future of the CPLP. “We will all work together” to avoid this.
The new legal provisions on immigration proposed by Parliament, at the initiative of Luís Montenegro’s government, have not gone down well with the other member states of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP). And while Portugal already knows that Brazil intends to apply reciprocity toward the Portuguese, it will now find out firsthand how this decision has been felt in Luanda when Angolan President João Lourenço arrives on Friday for a three-day official visit to Portugal.
“Indeed, there is some discomfort. Brazil has had the courage to express this same discomfort. We, so far, have said nothing, but it is clear that we are following the developments of the situation very closely,” João Lourenço said in an interview with TVI/CNN Portugal.
While acknowledging that each country has the sovereign right to define the rules for those who cross its borders and wish to reside and work there, Lourenço points out that a country with such a long history of emigration should think twice before closing its doors to those immigrating to Portugal.
“You only welcome into your home whoever you want,” but Portugal “is a country of citizens who emigrate a lot, and that’s not new.” Therefore, if “the Portuguese emigrated all over the world, the least we demand is that Portugal not treat the immigrants who chose Portugal as a destination to make their lives worse than they were treated in the countries that welcomed them over the years,” the Angolan head of state emphasized.
“If we take into account that today there are some, tomorrow there will be others. Or in the past there were others. Portugal itself is a country of citizens who emigrate a lot. And that’s not new. Therefore, Portugal’s past is closely linked to emigration to the world,” recalled the President of Angola.
At the end of the first decade and during the second decade of this century, when Angola was injecting significant amounts of money into its economy through the post-war national reconstruction plan, many Portuguese chose to emigrate to that African country to escape the deep economic crisis in Portugal. During the Troika era, with the austerity policies of another PSD government (2011 to 2015), led by Pedro Passos Coelho, but with Montenegro in the Assembly as parliamentary leader, the flow of Portuguese migrants to Angola numbered in the thousands, reaching its peak precisely in the last year of that government, 2015.
However, even though in recent years the number of Angolans residing in Portugal has increased considerably, reaching more than 55 thousand in 2023, the number of Portuguese living in Angola, even decreasing substantially in recent years, was still more than double at the end of 2023, around 112 thousand.
In the interview, Lourenço admits that he will discuss the matter in high-level discussions, not only on behalf of Angola, but also “on behalf of all Africans,” because we must remember that he is currently the acting president of the African Union. At the same time, he will also recall Portugal’s commitments to the CPLP and the risks that such a decision could pose to the community’s future.
When asked whether such a decision could jeopardize the CPLP, the Angolan head of state admitted that it could, but that it is the obligation of all member states, “including Portugal, to do everything possible to prevent this from happening.”
“Therefore, let us all work together, including Portugal, to prevent this great community project that is the CPLP from falling apart,” added the head of state.
Portugal’s Prime Minister defends immigration law and rejects Chega’s concessions: “The government has not given in to anything”
The Prime Minister stated that the Government trusts the “legal solution” that emerged from Parliament in the law on foreigners and is not afraid of the “in-depth assessment” of the President of the Republic, refusing to have given in on immigration matters.
In an interview with Antena 1’s “Política com Assinatura” program, broadcast this Monday, Luís Montenegro once again rejected the idea that immigration is the government’s only issue and argued that it was the government that took the lead on this matter.
“The government didn’t give in to anything; the government took the initiative. We presented proposals; if Chega has proposals to present, it will present them,” he stated, adding that the party’s ideas “are a little more radical” than those of the PSD/CDS-PP executive.
On the other hand, he considered it normal that, on matters such as immigration, the PS has “more difficulty in aligning its position with that of the Government”.
“For eight years, the PS defended exactly the opposite. It is very difficult for the PS to now vote in favor, even if it understands deep down that they are going down a path that is more correct than the one it defended, it is still relatively early,” he said.
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