Lisbon, Dec. 4, 2020 (Lusa) – Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Friday that the main objective of the Portuguese EU presidency was to implement projects, tools and decisions for European development.
"If I want to summarise the programme of the Portuguese presidency of the European Council in one verb, I would say it is: implement. We will have to implement projects, tools and decisions taken, namely on budgets for the development of the European economy", said Santos Silva.
For the head of Portuguese diplomacy, the Portuguese presidency of the EU, starting on 1 January, has a difficult challenge ahead in implementing vital budgets to enable Europe's economic recovery, greatly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a panel also attended by the Foreign Ministers of Italy, Luigi Di Maio, Greece, Nicos Dendias, Slovenia, Anze Logar, and Croatia, Gordan Radman, Santos Silva expressed concern over Hungary's and Poland's vetoes on EU budgets, rejecting the rule of law conditionality mechanism.
"I will be very clear: it is not acceptable for two member states to block important decisions for the European economy," said Santos Silva, pointing out that respect for the rule of law is an "essential pillar" of the European project.
"Fundamental values are at stake, such as respect for human rights, civil rights, freedom of the press," he added, in a position that was accompanied by his counterparts on the panel.
Anze Logar said he hoped that the German presidency, which ends at the end of this month, would overcome this obstacle of the Hungarian and Polish vetoes, stressing the urgency of implementing the recovery and resilience budget programme, especially at a time when the health crisis still affects many European countries.
For Santos Silva, another priority of the Portuguese programme for the six-month leadership of the European Council will be the fight against inequalities, although he has rejected the fact that this issue is only for socialist governments, such as the one to which he belongs.
"This is a priority for socialists, but also for all those who believe that non-discrimination is a fundamental value of Europe," explained Santos Silva, saying that this value is shared by all political families in the EU.
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