Marta Temido ‘one of the leading lights of Costa’s PS Socialist days’ no longer trusts European institution
Marta Temido was one of the heavy-hitters during the governments of António Costa. Now a euro MP in Brussels, she is deeply disappointed by what she has found.
In a debate with other Portuguese euro MPs recently, she said of the support given by European Commissioner Ursula Von der Leyen for Israel’s attack on Iran “has jeopardised everything that is the hope of an entire generation of young people.”
As CNN Portugal reports, Temido started dropping her bombshells “in the final minutes” of the debate after being asked what the European Union can do to stop the violence in Gaza. “I only believe in the power of civil society”, came her response. (“I’m very sorry to tell you, but I don’t believe in the power of European institutions at the moment.”
Temido believes the only way to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza between Hamas and Israel is through popular demonstrations. “I believe that the people who take to the streets must influence European institutions.” This is the only “possible way” for the institutions to “realise that the people, especially young people, don’t see themselves in this Europe”, she said.
Europe’s institutions “on their own, won’t change a millimetre (…) they are too concerned with commercial, strategic and defence interests (…) not at all concerned with what are very serious problems, such as the genocide we are witnessing”, Temido went on.
In an earlier intervention in the same debate, the former minister for health criticised the words of Ursula Von der Leyen at the recent G7 summit where she said that Israel has ‘the right to defend itself’ against the nuclear threat from Iran – a country that is ‘the main source of regional instability’.
“This caused me immense sadness,”’ said Temido, considering that Von der Leyen’s words jeopardised “everything that is the hope of an entire generation of young people who look to the EU and do not accept an EU that is the one we are having today”.
In the vision of the Socialist, the European Union is currently an institution “where in the confrontation between interests and values, commercial interests, the maintenance of the political status quo and the interests of connections win (…) And that is perfectly unacceptable and causes brutal frustration in everything that is democracy (…) I am deeply concerned about that,” she concluded.
Referring to this very public meltdown today, Expresso asks “What happened?” A year ago, Marta Temido seemed full of joy at winning her place in the European Parliament. Now she appears to have lost all faith in the project her former ‘boss’ (António Costa) is intrinsically involved in.
Euronews adds however that Marta Temido is not alone in her discomfort over Ursula Von der Leyen’s Israeli stance.
A diplomat confided: ““There was no consensus on saying Israel has a right to defend itself but Von der Leyen said it anyway (…) She saw the agreed language and then made her own statement (…) It was disheartening to be honest.”
Source: CNN Portugal/ Expresso/Euronews
