Portugal President warns of ‘deep crisis in European political systems’

Photo: Reuters

The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (photo), said that there is an “end of a cycle” and warned of the “deep crisis” that European political systems are experiencing, arguing that it is necessary to “make ruptures.”

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the National Youth Meeting in Aveiro, Rebelo de Sousa said Europe is at the end of a historical cycle and the beginning of another, Lusa reported.

“We are at this turning point that the world will not be the same […] after the American elections, whatever the result, it will be different, it won’t be the same after the changes in China, which has had difficulties managing the pandemic and recovering economically […] it won’t be the same in the positioning of the Russian Federation or the emerging powers in South Africa, Brazil, Turkey and India, it won’t be the same,” he noted.

According to the head of state, there is a sense of transformation, and wars increase in these periods of uncertainty and impressionability, “hence the need to fight for peace, in Europe, in Africa but also the Middle East”.

Rebelo de Sousa explained that the systems were all designed for another time, and they have lasted “by inertia.”

“European political systems are in deep crisis, and that’s why voids are opening up through which new inorganic realities, some will call populist, are entering because systems designed for the aftermath of the Second World War and the transition in the evolution from the 20th century to the 21st century are in crisis”.

He said the systems have not adapted to digitalisation, climate change, scientific and technological advances, mobility, and the aspirations of younger people.

“The alternative to old is old, old in ideas, old in structures, old in organisation, old in people, and that’s a problem in Europe”.

He warned that “Europe is falling behind” and “has lost its momentum” even though it leads the fight for climate action and migration.

EU funds good but not enough

For the Portuguese president, there are “positive factors” such as the EU funds, but for a short period.

“It’s not money that solves the problem, it’s knowledge that solves the problem,” he said, arguing that “it’s essential that young people reach the decision-making centres, governing municipalities, governing regions, governing the so-called central power (…) it’s inevitable and if it doesn’t happen it’s wasted time and lost change”.

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