Santos Silva. “There is no problem in the relationship between Portugal and Qatar”
“My responsibilities today are no longer those of conducting foreign policy, but I can reassure you. There is no problem in the relationship between Portugal and Qatar, which have an intense diplomatic relationship. Qatar is one of the Gulf states where we have a resident ambassador and it is a strategic region for us“, said the second figure of the Portuguese State.
Augusto Santos Silva, who spoke to journalists in Doha, on the sidelines of a meeting with the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Fernando Gomes, guaranteed that the safety of Portuguese residents in Qatar was not at stake, despite the criticisms made by the President of Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the Prime Minister, António Costa, regarding human rights violations by Qatar.
🇧🇷The Portuguese residing here can rest assured, because, if there is one thing that characterizes Portuguese foreign policy, it is the external action of all sovereign bodies, it is always placing priority on the well-being, interest, security and tranquility of all. the Portuguese who live almost everywhere in the world“, said the president of AR.
Augusto Santos Silva recalled “the unsurpassed support” that the Qatari authorities provided to Portugal on the occasion of the death of the former Portuguese ambassador to the country Ricardo Pracana, in 2020, but not only that.
“When we had to remove dozens and dozens of people from Afghanistan, namely Afghans who had collaborated with the Portuguese Armed Forces, in a very difficult operation, we managed to do it, because we have the support of Pakistan, on the land route, and of Qatar, on the air route. These things are not forgotten. Just as the position that Qatar has had in the General Assembly of the United Nations in listening to the war in Ukraine is not forgotten, and the geopolitical and geoeconomic importance that this region has in the world”, he highlighted.
The president of the AR also said that on the agenda of the meetings he will hold with the Qatari authorities “are all the matters that are of interest to both Portugal and Qatar”, and stated that all countries “must make a lot of progress in terms of human rights”.
“We all have a lot to do in terms of human rights, relationships and mutual understanding, including Portugal”, he concluded.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic says he is in Qatar to support the selection and the Portuguese who live in the country.
w/Lusa