Ties particularly in areas of defence
Portugal’s foreign minister Paulo Rangel has said Portugal will be strengthening cooperation with São Tomé and Príncipe in the area of defence, stressing that all CPLP States (meaning countries in which Portuguese is spoken) are “free to define their foreign policy”.
Paulo Rangel was speaking at the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities, where he answered several foreign policy questions – one of which was raised by IL (Iniciativa Liberal), regarding a military cooperation agreement between São Tomé and Príncipe and Russia.
IL’s MP Rodrigo Saraiva expressed his party’s concern about São Tomé’s “proximity” to Russia, saying that what unites Member States of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) is more than their common language.
This agreement between merits “diplomatic and military concern” on the part of the IL, he said, recalling that there are “pending” ratification agreements on the part of São Tomé, such as the Portuguese School in the archipelago and the CPLP mobility agreement.
“As a State, we must evaluate the investments we make,” he said.
Paulo Rangel began by expressing his “perplexity” at the complete ignorance which, he said, IL was showing regarding the nature of the CPLP.
“I don’t know what they think it is, but from the kind of remarks they made, it seems that they are unaware of it and that there is an idea here that Portugal has to have supervision, a special right, over countries that were former Portuguese colonies,” he said.
“Portugal is a State, not an NGO (…). States have to follow the rules of public international law.
“CPLP States are totally sovereign and free to define their foreign policy,” he went on, recalling that some of the countries in the community had “very intensive military cooperation with the Russian federal government, as the heir to the Soviet Union.
“From the point of view of foreign policy, IL’s contribution is highly damaging and reveals a lack of understanding of what the CPLP is and its framework,” he added.
Rangel said that Portugal will be increasing cooperation “in the area of defence”.
LUSA
