The Cape Verdean president says that the sovereign positions of the CPLP countries must be respected

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The Cape Verdean president reiterated this Saturday that he “vehemently” condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but regarding the military agreement signed between Russia and Sao Tome and Principe, he recalled that “the sovereign positions of the countries must be respected.”

“The CPLP [Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa] It is a space for integration and discussion and we can, in our moments, discuss these positions, without interfering in the internal affairs of each country,” José María Neves stated to the Lusa agency, on the sidelines of a meeting with Cape Verdeans. students from the city of Maio that takes place this weekend in São João da Madeira, in the Aveiro district.

Asked about his position, as president of one of the nine member states of the CPLP, regarding the military agreement recently signed between Russia and Sao Tome and Principe, the president of Cape Verde stated that “the sovereign decisions of the countries must be respected.” . .

“The CPLP is a plural space with multiple sovereignties and perhaps hence the richness of this space. Each sovereignty is integrated into its own geopolitical space with its challenges, therefore sovereign countries make decisions that may not satisfy the positions of others. [países]but we have to respect the sovereign decisions of the countries,” he defended.

The Cape Verdean head of state stated that “Cape Verde has had agreements with Russia for many years, but regarding the current geopolitical situation it has a very clear position.”

“Cape Verde respects the territorial integrity of countries, respects the sovereignty of the different States and considers that internationally recognized borders are inviolable. “We defend International Law and the Charter of the United Nations, which is why we strongly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he noted.

On Tuesday, the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee approved, with the PS voting against and Livre abstaining, the hearing of the head of diplomacy, Paulo Rangel, on the role of Portugal in the Lusophone community, requested by the Liberal Initiative .

The IL requirement follows a military agreement recently concluded between Russia and Sao Tome and Principe.

The same day, Paulo Rangel guaranteed that “no episode, whatever it may be,” could affect relations between Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe.

“For us, Sao Tome and Principe is a fundamental partner and, therefore, [a cooperação] It will not suffer any episode, whatever it may be,” said Rangel, in Madrid, responding to questions from journalists about statements he recently made about the military cooperation agreement between Sao Tome and Moscow.

Paulo Rangel considered that the statements he made were taken out of context and considered that “part of the noise that is made has no reason to exist.”

The minister maintained that he expressed “some concern” about the agreement between Sao Tome and Principe and Russia, for being “a little unexpected,” after having said “seven or eight times” that “evidently Sao Tome is a sovereign State.”

The previous week, the executive secretary of the CPLP stated that “there are no dramas” in this regard, while the Portuguese president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, considered it important to “safeguard the unity of the CPLP”, recalling that “when the invasion of the Russian Federation started from Ukraine. [em 2022] There were votes at the United Nations and in some votes the CPLP was divided, and it was very divided.”

The news of the agreement with Sao Tome and Principe came coinciding with a visit by the Guinean president, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, to Russia, during which the Guinean head of state assured his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that he can count on Guinea-Bissau ” as a permanent ally.”

Embaló stated that he had “more than 100 soldiers in training in Russia,” having also requested training for the Guinean special forces.