The Liberal Initiative (IL) questioned the Government on Friday about the implementation of the budget measure to suspend public support for associations linked to entities sanctioned by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, fearing that nothing is being done.
In statements to the Lusa agency, IL deputy Bernardo Blanco explained the reasons for this initiative, addressed to the ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance, referring that he had already asked the question in parliament to government officials and received no response.
I am very afraid that nothing is being done in the sense that, in the commissions, the issue was deliberately ignored,” he said, referring to the fact that a month has passed since the entry into force of the State Budget for 2022 ( OE2022).
During the debate in the specialty of the OE2022, the liberals managed to see approved a proposal to modify the budget for the suspension of public support for associations linked to entities sanctioned by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a as had been initially deprecatedbut that, after being summoned and with the change of vote of the PS after changes in its wording, received the green light.
The Government itself was in favor of this measure because it had failed in the budget specialty, but it was one of those measures that IL decided to refer to the plenary session and after our intervention, the minister found the measure very good and in conversations with the PS, the PS he changed his vote and voted in favor and the measure passed,” he recalled.
For this reason, in Bernardo Blanco’s opinion, the PS Government “is fully aware that this measure has been approved and that must be fulfilled”.
“It seems to us that nothing has been done with it yet, and hence the need for us to have asked the question,” he said.
With the war far from over and Portugal continuing to receive Ukrainian refugees, for the liberal deputy “the security in the reception of these people obviously remains a priority”.
And although a few months ago there was more talk about the subject because there were media cases, although now there is no media attention on the matter, the subject is still relevant”, he defended.
The objective of the IL is to know at what stage the implementation of this measure is, since the Government has to first investigate, then publish the results of that investigation, that is, the list of associations, and, finally, “let to finance publicly. to these associations.
Thus, Bernardo Blanco wants to know “if something has already been done and if the investigation has already begun, if there is already an association that the Government has identified and therefore can make public that it has links with the Russian regime.”
IL added another question to the Government since it has the obligation to inform the European Commission of the sanctions that it has already applied.
We ask what sanctions the Government of Portugal has already applied and to which entities because this information has not been made available to us so far and we believe that it is in the public interest for the assembly to know and for the Portuguese to know as well. “, he said.
The new wording of this norm was then approved with the favorable votes of all the parties, with the exception of the PCP, which voted against.
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It was established that “the Government investigate any connection, financial or otherwise, between the natural and legal persons provided for in Annex I of Regulation (EU) of the Council No. associations registered as representatives of the Ukrainian community in Portugal in the electoral college of the High Commissioner for Migration”, and any public support must be suspended, “that is, financial transfers, rate reductions, subsidies, fiscal and parafiscal reductions, supply of goods or services under preferential conditions, among others, to the aforementioned associations , than to prove to be linked, financially or otherwise”.
Source: Observadora
