Liberal Initiative (IL) MEP João Cotrim Figueiredo explained the withdrawal of his candidacy for the presidency of the European Liberals as a “cross-suggestion of positions” between the group’s parties, in an interview with the publication CMTV.
Faced with the failure of the Renovar à l’Europe party in the elections, Cotrim Figueiredo saw “few people on the bench interested in analysing the results” and began to gather support to run against the group’s president, Valérie Hayer, from French President Emmanuel Macron’s party.
“A fundamental vacancy became obvious,” but “a series of conversations and cross-offerings of positions” led to several delegations backing away from the Portuguese candidate. “It was a crash course” in how negotiations work at the European level, admitted Cotrim, who was eventually elected vice-president of Renovar a Europa.
Regarding the appointment of António Costa as president of the European Council, he admitted that he is “not the worst” among the socialists, but warned that “in key functions we must be demanding of the people we choose, and not distribute positions.” That is, despite the fact that the Liberals were also part of the consensus that led to the election of the former Prime Minister of Portugal. “This position requires reforms that Costa never saw,” the Liberal insisted.
One of Costa’s challenges, according to MEP-elect, is to “direct the desire to coordinate our efforts to solve the problems of enlargement” to the east, namely to Ukraine, where Cotrim believes the EU has sent a “political signal”. “by starting negotiations to enter a country at war.”
As for the contested European Pact on Migration and Asylum, the liberal once again defended the merits of the document, considering it “dignified for those who have the right to enter, firm for those who do not have the right to enter, and uncompromising for those who benefit from migrants.” “We cannot allow [a imigração] “be the work of only certain forces,” he noted.
Author: Miguel Bravo Morais This Miguel Pinheiro Correia
Source: CM Jornal
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