PR sees CPLP as a “window of opportunity” for the freedom of movement
The Portuguese President said there is a chance to improve the mobility of citizens in CPLP countries. PR has "a lot of hope" that the opportunity will be sought after by the community's presidencies.
The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said there is “a window of opportunity” for the mobility of the citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) and that the country could “go further” in freedom of movement.
In an interview with an Angolan radio station, De Sousa was asked about the difficulties in granting visas for entry into the European space and he began by distinguishing the problems of the “bureaucratic side”, in relation to which the ministry of foreign affairs has made a “permanent and restrained effort to overcome,” of those related to freedom of movement.
“I think that even in respect to the rules of other communities, such as the European Union, there is room for us to go further in circulation,” De Sousa said, for whom there is currently “a very good opportunity, perhaps a golden one, to move forward in areas like this.”
De Sousa said he has “a lot of hope” that those presiding the CPLP will solve this problem (currently Cape Verde presides the Portuguese-speaking community, to be substituted by Angola in 2020).
He was also asked if the problem should be solved in the framework of the CPLP or bilaterally, to which De Sousa said he preferred a global resolution.
“Ideally, we would go multilaterally, in the framework of the CPLP, but I admit that if it cannot move forward, it should progress bilaterally,” he said.
LUSA
