The MEP elected from the Liberal Initiative (IL), João Cotrim Figueiredo, explained the withdrawal of his candidacy for the post of President of the European Liberals by a “cross-offering of positions” between the parties of the group, in an interview with the publication CMTV.
Faced with the failure of the Renovar in Europe party in the elections, Cotrim Figueiredo saw “few people on the bench interested in analyzing the results” and began to gather support to run against the group’s president, Valerie Hayer, in the party of French President Emmanuel Macron. .
“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 acknowledged that he is “not the worst” among the Socialists, but warned that “in key functions we must be demanding of the people we elect, 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 Portuguese Prime Minister. “This position requires reforms that Costa has never seen,” the Liberal insisted.
According to the MEP-elect, one of António Costa’s tasks is to “channel the will to coordinate our efforts to solve the problems of enlargement” to the east, namely Ukraine, where Cotrim believes the EU has sent a “political signal” by “opening accession talks with a country at war.”
Regarding the contested European Pact on Migration and Asylum, the Liberal once again defended the merits of the document, deeming it “decent for those who have the right to enter, firm for those who do not have the right to enter and uncompromising for those who take advantage of migrants.” . “We can’t afford [a imigração] “be the work of only certain forces,” he noted.