The President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, acknowledged Portugal’s responsibility for crimes committed during the colonial era, suggesting that reparations be paid for past mistakes.
“We have to pay the costs. Are there actions that have not been punished and those responsible have not been arrested? Are there assets that have been looted and not returned? Let’s see how we can repair this,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, quoted by Reuters.
The President of the Republic was speaking on Tuesday at a dinner with foreign correspondents in Portugal.
At the event, Rebelo de Sousa said that Portugal “takes full responsibility” for the mistakes of the past and recalled that these crimes, including the colonial massacres, had costs.
A year ago, at the welcoming session for Brazilian President Lula da Silva, which preceded the solemn session commemorating the 49th anniversary of April 25 in the Assembly of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued that Portugal owed an apology, but above all it should take full responsibility for the exploitation and slavery in the colonial period.
“It’s not just apologizing – which we should, no doubt – for what we’ve done, because apologizing is sometimes the easiest thing to do: you apologize, turn your back, and you’ve done your job. No, it’s taking responsibility for the future for the good and bad things we’ve done in the past,” he said.
For more than four centuries, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported long distances by mostly European ships and merchants and sold into slavery.
At the same meeting with foreign correspondents, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa once again said that he believes former Prime Minister António Costa will be the next President of the European Council.
“I think so,” he said, quoted by EFE, when asked about his opinion on Costa’s chances of chairing the Council.
The Portuguese leader said that, following the latest information released about the legal proceedings against the former head of government for alleged irregularities, it seems that the process will run “more smoothly, more quickly”.
Rebelo de Sousa also stressed that everything indicates that the Socialists will be the second most voted force in the European elections in June, “unless there is a tsunami”.
Rebelo de Sousa pointed out that another factor in Costa’s favor could be the fact that the Presidency of the European Commission is in the hands of the People’s Party, which would make sense for the Presidency of the European Council to go to the Socialists, although this is not currently the case.
He highlighted not only the support Costa could have within the Socialist family, but also the sympathy he has in the European People’s Party and among liberals such as French President Emmanuel Macron.
According to Rebelo de Sousa, these possible supporters are joined by others, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Hungarian President Viktor Orbán and Eastern European leaders.
“He will be a great president of the European Council and that is good for Europe and good for Portugal,” he said.
The Portuguese President stressed that Europe “needs politicians with experience” and recalled that Costa was one of the prime ministers with the longest mandate.
