“My first official trip had to be to France, because this is where the Portuguese truly are. I know their difficulties, I understand what they think, and I am aware of the love they have for Portugal. Even when they remain here and often live their entire lives here, their love for Portugal is unique. Therefore, I had to start here,” stated Emídio Sousa.
His official visit to Paris comes at a time when he is still “getting to know the communities, although they are not entirely new,” as he is a “son of emigrants, brother, cousin, uncle” with family living outside Portugal, especially in France.
“I am very familiar with this reality. As a student, I spent many months here in France during holiday work; for me, it’s nothing new, and it’s a source of pride. I started precisely with France and Paris because today there’s a very significant community of Portuguese and Portuguese descendants here—around a million people in Paris alone; therefore, the largest Portuguese city is Paris,” said the Secretary of State.
Praising the Portuguese community in France for their integration, respect, and contribution “to France’s development,” the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities stated that he is “becoming aware of some problems concerning the response times” of consular services, expatriate voting, and Portuguese teaching in France, assuring that he will “improve” and “address these issues with great attention.”
“In the last 10/11 years, when we had the Troika, even the government that succeeded the Troika was overly concerned with public accounts, neglecting a bit the renewal of personnel, and today our services often struggle with a lack of staff,” noted Emídio Sousa, mentioning that “recruitment processes are already underway.”
Regarding the teaching of Portuguese, “I already have instructions from the minister; I made this proposal to him, it is a proposal from the AD (Democratic Alliance, PSD/CDS) Government, to establish a new legal framework for teaching Portuguese abroad, because we know that teachers have not seen their status and salaries updated for many years, and this is unacceptable,” he added.
Defining Portugal today as a nation of “Portuguese from all over the world,” not just a “wonderful rectangle by the sea,” Emídio Sousa argued that the Portuguese language is “one of the most important policies” for the country.
“If there’s a place where Portuguese people are plentiful, it’s France. We are 10 million (in Portugal), but if we count our Portuguese descendants—and some are not even aware they’re part of this—we would be 20 or 30 million worldwide, and this is indeed the government’s policy,” he said.
On his first trip to Paris in the position, Emídio Sousa will visit, on Monday, the Consulate General of Portugal in Paris, the Camões – Portuguese Cultural Center, and the Embassy, where he will meet with Portuguese community advisors.
On Tuesday, he will travel to Tours in the center of the country to inaugurate the new premises of the Honorary Consulate.
