The President of the Republic considered today that the European Union was in “self-contemplation” and “still does not know how to find a way to relate to Africa”, recalling that, in addition to Ukraine, there are other outbreaks in the world that threaten peace.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa assumed this position at the Igreja de São Domingos, in Lisbon, where he inaugurated, together with the Minister of National Defense, an exhibition alluding to the vigil of the Capela do Rato, which began on December 30, 1972, and participated in a conversation on the topic “Is peace possible: an impossible statement?”, organized by the Commemorative Commission of the 50th anniversary of April 25.
In his speech, largely dedicated to the theme of peace, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that, since the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, “institutions, including democratic, national and international institutions, stopped and, in many In some cases, they found that the ‘it works this way because it works this way, and it will work this way’ formalism sufficed”.
“Now the challenges are different and if there is no response to the different challenges, conflicts arise, new ‘mini’ wars arise, peace is weakened,” he defended.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that this inertia of the institutions also included the European Union (EU), which “in many cases stopped at self-contemplation, because it was democratic and considered that it was much better than other realities that existed in the world” . ”.
“As for some liberties it was, and is, (…) but [a Europa] it is not being able to face the actual problems of several people, some within it, others in the opening to the outside. Europe still does not know how to find a way to relate to Africa, and yet there is an obvious relationship there, ”she criticized.
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “there is still a lot of nationalism in the bad sense of the term, a lot of machismo, a lot of xenophobia, the kind that is talked about a lot and that which belongs to the States themselves. – and that does not contribute to peace.”
In his speech, the head of state also sought to define the concept of “peace”, arguing that there is no “abstract idea of peace, of ‘peace is non-war and war is non-peace’”.
For Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, peace has a concrete meaning, emphasizing that “there is no peace without development, without economic and social justice, without freedom.”
The President of the Republic thus considered that, when it is said that “the world lived in peace, Europe lived in peace”, it is about “ease of expression”, recalling that, in recent years, Europe has lived “with internal wars in several of its States” and in its peripheries, but also “with wars all over the world in which Europe was no stranger, by action or omission”.
“So, let’s not be so simplistic, I understand that you have to be simplistic when you are doing politics, you have to take a political position in each case, but let’s not forget about all the other cases, it seems that there is only one war in the world” he said, with the Minister of National Defense at his side.
Marcelo recalled that, in addition to Ukraine, which “has the main focus of attention”, there are also “people dying in Africa, there are people dying in Asia, there are people dying, perhaps less, that is known, in Latin America. ” .
“Is this devaluing what is happening in Ukraine? No, because there the implication of the powers is greater, because there the determinant in the balance of powers is greater, or more visible, at least. Does it mean a new international order? We will see, we will see, we will see, because this is much more than a new balance of powers, ”she stressed.
The President of the Republic thus stated that “if the question is how we are going to build peace in the world, that obviously involves building peace in Ukraine, but it also involves building peace in many other places, and in the global context ”.
Source: Observadora
