Marcelo says that Portugal and Qatar have “strong diplomatic relations”. The reaction came after it became known that Portugal would be placed on Qatar’s blacklist.

President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said this Saturday that Portugal and Qatar have “strong diplomatic relations”, denying the existence of the “blacklist” and contrasting “reality” with “speculation”.

Answering a question from journalists about an article in the newspaper Sol, which says that Portugal will be blacklisted by Qatar, the head of state said that “speculation is one thing, reality is another.”

And he pointed out that “the reality is very simple, there are strong diplomatic and economic relations that came from the past, which does not interfere with different points of view on important issues.”

“But it cannot be said that there is a black list or a list of any other color that affects what is the normal foreign policy of a country, in this case it is Portugal and Qatar, as it could be Portugal and the United Arab Emirates or Portugal. and Saudi Arabia or other countries in the region that have very similar regimes in some important respects,” the President of the Republic told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the Rastrillo Solidarity Fair in Lisbon.

Marcelo Rebelo de Souza also said he returned on Friday from the country he went to watch the national team’s World Cup match against Ghana and met “with the prime minister and other Qatari officials.”