Marcelo wants to be remembered as the “president of intimacy” despite the risks

The President of the Republic said this Wednesday that he wants to leave “closeness to the people” as a legacy of his mandates, acknowledging that this sometimes runs the risk of “undesirable” competition with populists.

“If I manage to reach the end of the term by completing this task, I may not have completed the others, but this one has been achieved, I hope that my successors will not lose this goal and, in what I failed, they will do much better” than me,” he wished.

In the SDP Summer University speech, only more than two hours later, Marcelo Rebelo de Souza agreed to deviate from the only topic he had identified for the conference dinner – Ukraine.

To avoid other national problems, such as housing problems, the question was even asked figuratively: “Imagine yourself as the president of Ukraine with a prime minister like António Costa and a reformist opposition leader like Luis Montenegro. in the middle of your term, what legacy do you leave for future generations, how would you like to be remembered?

This time, the president of the republic considered the question “very easy to answer” and rejected the Ukrainian metaphor.

“What I would like to leave behind, I think what I could leave behind is that I was a close president,” he defined.

The head of state considered that “the disengagement of the people” was a big problem for politicians, and said that he had done “everything possible to respond to this disengagement, to this disengagement.”

“Looking for intimacy under any circumstances, sometimes with a risk, such as the risk to be close to people, to compete with the so-called populist forces, a competition that is undesirable, undesirable and undesirable,” he said, justifying the need to come first, whether it be fire, accident or problem registered with the government.

During his tenth participation in the SDP Summer University – the first personal participation since he became President of the Republic – the initiative’s director, MEP Carlos Coelho, named him one of the souls of the political training academy and toasted him. a film about his previous engagements, the first in 2005.

Marcelo Rebelo de Souza justified his presence in Castelo de Vide on the grounds that his previous speeches as head of state – in writing in 2018 and video last year – were “very cold deeds”.

In addition, the only topic he wanted to talk about – Ukraine – justified his presence, he defended, even trying to discuss this topic at “numerous youth meetings” and trying to convey his experience in the country where he was last week.

Stressing that Portugal “is the country in Europe where Ukraine enjoys the most support,” Marcelo Rebelo de Souza wanted to make it clear that he had never fueled Russophobia, considering it “nonsense” to attempt to denigrate Russian culture.

“It doesn’t exist, it’s bullshit and anyone who thinks like that is losing part of their mind, it’s a stupid way to defend the cause,” he said.

In his lengthy initial speech, he sought to present the “prehistory of the war”, including the annexation of Crimea and the responsibility of former President Donald Trump to increase the influence of the Russian Federation, and praised the ability of the Ukrainian people to resist. and the leadership of President Zelensky.

The President of the Republic also praised the European Union’s ability to act together in this war – “if it was divided, it lost its role in the world” – and when asked if the country would benefit from having the Portuguese head of the European Council, he answered in general terms.

“If Portugal wins, if the Portuguese will occupy key positions in the world organization? It’s a victory, it seems obvious,” he said, without delving into the subject, in a question that seemed to be addressed to the future Prime Minister António. Costa.