“Threats of Trump administration and reaction of Portuguese government in European context”
In the wake of the quite stunning narrative coming from US president Donald Trump, particularly with regard to the Ukraine conflict, Portugal’s politicians have debated what was presented as “the threats of the Trump administration, and the reaction of the Portuguese government in the European context”.
Unsurprisingly, the general consensus was that the centuries old relationship with the United States is important, but not irreplaceable.
To be fair, MPs representing the AD government (PSD and CDS-PP) weren’t quite this blunt. They stressed the “importance of the relationship”, which PSD’s Paulo Moniz suggested is “unique within the framework of the European Union”.
It was opposition MPs who threw in the reservations that are now sweeping across swathes of the western world: PS Socialists, for example, agreed wholeheartedly that the relationship is important, but stressed it is not irreplaceable, and in light of current interventions, should be evaluated on a “day-to-day basis”.
Concerns began in the early days of the Trump administration (particularly with the masterplan for Gaza) but heightened this week when president Trump called President Zelenskyy a dictator who had no place remaining in power. The cherry-on-the-cake seemed to be the remark: “Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left.” It was so ambiguous – which is what certain figures who know Mr Trump have advised is best left as such, and completely ignored.
But many find themselves unable to ignore these blunderbusses to international diplomacy – hence yesterday’s urgent debate, requested by left wingers Bloco de Esquerda.
The session gave all the parties space to air their concerns. The Bloco’s own feelings appear to be that Mr Trump is on a par with Vladimir Putin, ergo: “If Trump and Putin are allies, and Putin is an enemy, what does that make Trump” challenged Mariana Mortágua, stressing that this simple problem of logic has thrown the European leadership into a flat spin.
Describing the European Union as “paralysed in the face of two far-right emperors”, who “set the terms of Ukraine’s surrender among themselves” and the “organisation of world affairs”, Mortágua insisted the time has come to leave NATO altogether.
For the PS, João Paulo Rebelo considered that “since taking over the US presidency, Trump has had statements, attitudes and promoted an agenda that threatens the stability of Europe and the international order”, alluding also to the “trade and customs war” that the Republican “seems intent on starting”.
“Is this to say that the US is not a long-standing partner of Portugal? Of course they are. Now, to say, that the US is an irreplaceable partner for Portugal, may sound good from a traditionalist perspective but to the PS, let’s say, as dogma, that doesn’t suit us (…) the US is a long-standing partner” but Portugal has to “evaluate on a day-to-day basis” how it positions itself within this partnership”.
Iniciativa Liberal meantime pushed the idea that the EU must become “an autonomous global actor”.
Lusa news agency’s report on the debate ended in a rather unusual fashion: the speaker announced that he had just discovered he had a button to turn off MPs speaking for too long, which he did to Fabian Figueiredo, of the Bloco de Esquerda.
