Moedas says support for web summit will be lower ‘if there are fewer people’

The mayor of Lisbon said this Wednesday that the municipality is obliged to honor the agreement to financially support the Web Summit conference, but “unspent money, if there are fewer people, will be returned.”

“There is a contract that is signed before I become chamber president, a 10-year contract with Web Summit, and so the current chamber president, whether it be me or someone else, will have an obligation to honor that contract. , but there is a new feature in this contract and in this signing is that the unspent money, if there are fewer people, will be returned or not paid,” said Carlos Moedas (SDP).

The mayor spoke at a public meeting of the municipal executive after being questioned by BE councilor Ricardo Moreira, replacing elected Beatriz Gomes Dias, about the municipality’s support of seven million euros for the next edition of the Web Summit conference to take place. from 13 to 16 November.

BE requested that the proposal to provide financial support for the web summit be removed from the agenda of the closed meeting that took place this Wednesday morning.

However, the proposal was eventually considered and approved: it was voted in favor by the PSD/CDS-PP and PS leadership, and by the remaining elected representatives, namely the PCP, BE, Livre and the independent councilors elected by the PS/Livre coalition. . .

“Mr. President insisted on a subsidy of seven million euros for the web summit. Seven million euros, Mr. President, is 11% more than last year, which is more than the city of Lisbon spends on people experiencing homelessness, which is increasing in the city of Lisbon. There are seven million of them, which made it possible to build four more kindergartens, but the president wanted to give a web summit without even being sure of the format of how it would happen,” criticized Ricardo Moreira.

In the previous event, in 2022, the allocation of financial support by the municipality – in that year it amounted to 6.3 million euros – was approved by an equal vote of the political forces that make up the municipal executive.

Uncertainty about the next web summit arose after event co-founder Paddy Cosgrave wrote a post on social network X (formerly Twitter) on October 13 about war crimes, hinting at a conflict between Israel and Hamas. a position that has drawn a number of criticisms, with companies announcing they will withdraw from the technology conference.

“I am impressed that the rhetoric and actions of many Western leaders and governments, with the particular exception of the Irish government, are doing the right thing this time. War crimes are still war crimes, even if committed by allies, and they should be condemned for what they are,” Paddy Cosgrave said in a post on social media X.

This Wednesday, a BE adviser called on the remaining members of the executive to reaffirm that “war crimes are war crimes, no matter who commits them.”

“How can such a proposal kill the Web Summit, Mr. President? Lisbon really wants to support an event where there is no freedom of expression, where money speaks louder, where it is no longer possible to condemn war crimes wherever they occur. “Where from?” he asked.

In response, the mayor confirmed that “The Web Summit is not a geopolitical or political event, it is a very important event for the city in terms of technology and innovation.”

“This is an event that has brought a lot to the city, although in terms of innovation the city is already much larger, because I think that in addition to the Web Summit we have very interesting programs such as the Unicorn Factory,” emphasized Carlos Moedas.

At a public meeting, the BU presented a vote condemning the crimes of collective punishment and genocide committed by the State of Israel against the Palestinian people, but the document was rejected by votes against the leadership of the PSD/SDS-PP and PS. , who justified their position by approving votes on the matter last week.