The Portuguese Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Pedro Duarte, distanced himself on Sunday from the decision by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to terminate contracts with Portuguese universities following an “inconceivable” questionnaire. He nonetheless commended the Portuguese institutions for demonstrating “a moment of strengthened autonomy.”
“There is a desire to show a certain authority to the world. […] I reject, criticize, and completely distance myself from that kind of attitude, but we must recognize that it is democratically legitimate for those in power. There is a formal legitimacy for those in power in the United States to want external funding to have a certain type of concession defined by those with that authority in that country,” stated Pedro Duarte in an interview with CNN Portugal.
The minister pointed out that the questionnaire represented “a reaction by the U.S. administration to what, in their own view, is a ‘woke’ culture believed to be too embedded in global philosophy, which the previous U.S. administration was trying to promote globally.”
“From what I know, the response of the Portuguese universities to ignore or not even respond to what is an inconceivable questionnaire was unanimous. […] I think it was a moment of strengthened autonomy for our institutions and a defense of what we believe should be the guiding values of our scientific and academic institutions,” he added.
The official suggested that Portugal could see this situation as “an opportunity” to “try to offset what is going so wrong in the North American market,” in scientific and academic terms.
“Regardless of losing certain funding, I would say that it is part of life. There are values that are far above these material components,” he remarked.
It is recalled that the U.S. government canceled a program at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) that allowed the establishment to host a space showcasing American culture. The Portuguese institution was questioned about links to terrorist organizations.
The president of IST, Rogério Colaço, mentioned to the Lusa news agency that they received the communication of the program’s “immediate effect” cancellation on March 5, along with a survey containing “very inappropriate questions” on whether IST collaborated with, or was cited in allegations or investigations involving terrorist associations, cartels, human and drug trafficking, organizations, or groups promoting mass immigration.
The ‘American Corner’ at IST had been operational for over ten years, promoting lectures, meetings, and activities of “scientific dissemination,” with annual funding of around 20,000 euros, according to Rogério Colaço.
The director of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lisbon (FLUL), Hermenegildo Fernandes, also received the same questionnaire, finding the questions “shameless” in terms of “climate agendas,” questioning if the institution had “contacts with communist and socialist parties” or “relations with the United Nations, People’s Republic of China, Iran, and Russia,” and what measures were taken to “protect women from gender ideologies.”
The faculty chose not to respond to the questionnaire, asserting that “its dependency is on the scientific policies of Portugal and the European Union,” noted FLUL’s director, without specifying if the ‘American Corner’ was also canceled at the faculty, which shares facilities nearby with the Confucius Institute, the official Chinese entity promoting the country’s language and culture.
The Faculty of Sciences and Technology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa indicated to Lusa that the ‘American Corner’ is “an annual project set to end in September,” without additional details.
“We are evaluating whether to apply for the project’s continuation or not,” added the faculty in a brief statement.
The rector of the University of Aveiro and president of the Council of Rectors expressed regret over the terms communicated by the U.S. Embassy, which conditioned funding continuation on responding to “intolerable” questions.
According to Paulo Jorge Ferreira, Portuguese universities benefiting from American Corner funding received an unexpected communication on Friday, the 7th, from the U.S. Embassy, stating the unilateral termination of existing grants if a questionnaire with deemed “inappropriate” questions was not completed.
These included whether they worked with entities associated with communist, socialist, or totalitarian parties, or if they received funding from the People’s Republic of China, including Confucius Institutes, as well as Russia, Cuba, or Iran.
“The council of rectors discussed the issue and considered the questions, by their nature, as an intolerable intrusion into the institutions’ autonomy and academic freedom,” he stated to Lusa.
According to the U.S. Embassy’s portal in Portugal, there are over 600 “American Spaces” in more than 140 countries, located in settings such as universities, shopping centers, libraries, and embassy facilities.
