The accusation against the President of the Republic was made by André Ventura on social media on Wednesday, following Chega’s parliamentary vote against Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s official visit to Germany, scheduled from today until Saturday, at the invitation of his German counterpart.
“Parliament approved the President of the Republic’s visit to Germany to attend a hamburger festival. At the expense of our taxes. Do you think this is normal? Aren’t the Portuguese outraged?” reads a message posted by Chega’s leader on the social network X.
In an Instagram video in which he appears holding a document, André Ventura makes the same accusation, referring to the ‘Bürgerfest’ gathering as “a hamburger festival,” when in fact it is a Citizens’ Festival held in the gardens of the presidential palace in Berlin.
“Chega voted against, obviously. This is chaos. But do you know why this happens, why things like this happen? Because you don’t know about it. You don’t get outraged because you don’t know,” André Ventura adds.
In both the social network X and the Instagram video, the Chega leader links the head of state’s trip to Germany, supposedly for a hamburger festival, with a burden on Portuguese taxpayers, and comments: “Tell me how ridiculous this is, how stupid this is.”
A note published Wednesday morning on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic, before the parliamentary vote that took place in the afternoon, states that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will be received by the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and provides an overview of the ‘Bürgerfest’ initiative.
The note describes the Citizens’ Festival as “an annual event held in the gardens of the Federal President’s official residence to honor volunteer work and promote civic engagement among citizens.”
